Shinigami Titans
by may yuki
Summary: Aizen has been quiet lately, but the silence isn't necessarily a good thing. Aizen is planning something, and no one knows what. That is, until the Teen Titans appear with...
1. Aizen's Targets

**May: You actually fixed it up a bit...I applaud you, Lefty.**

**Lefty: *bows* I took people's advice, plus Writer's block has been slapping me in the face for the past...idk week?**

**May: Well, we should continue with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two series!**

**Warning: I tend to stretch things out, so beware some chapters in the future...**

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><p>-Raven-<p>

A meditation should be just that. A meditation. But why is this scene trying push its way into my mind?

_A 15 year old teenager with spiky orange hair collapses onto the ground after getting slashed across his abdomen by a man with brown hair and glasses. "Oh? I thought I severed your hip from your body. Guess the cut was too shallow…" the man comments as the teenager collapses onto the ground. _

_Next thing I know, the brown-haired man is standing behind a man with crimson hair tied up into a high ponytail. Blood splatters out of his body just like it did to the orange-haired teenager. The man walks past him to a girl with black hair, completely paralyzed in shock. "__**Come**__…__**get up**__…__**Rukia Kuchiki**__…" Fear spreads through my entire body as I realize he's a man we should never fight. He grabs the collar around her neck and prepares to pull her up as the teenager forces himself to get up. The man goes onto explain that there is something to strengthen something called…Shinigami? He continues on, stating that something called the "Hōgyoku" is one way to make a Shinigami become stronger. "The hiding place he chose…was you…Rukia Kuchiki…" he states, turning towards the black-haired girl._

_Before he can continue any more of his explanation, a figure slams onto the ground. Before I can look at his face, he screams "AIZEN!" and then slams a sword onto the ground, creating a huge dust storm._

I open my eyes as I hear Robin's voice outside the door. "Raven! Starfire's in trouble! Something's wrong with her! We need you to go see!" I stand up and slide open the door to find Robin in a frantic state.

"What's going on?" I ask, looking around. I hear a scream in the Medical Bay and Robin leads me hurriedly to the room. We open the door to find Beast Boy and Cyborg, restraining a flailing Starfire. "What happened?" I ask him frantically as he runs over to Starfire.

"We don't know…We just suddenly heard her screaming in her room. When we came in…there were these white blobs streaking out of her left side…" Robin explains. Starfire turns her head towards us and I see what Robin had meant. A mask is forming on the left side of her face and it looks like a cat's but more menacing. Does it have something to do with the dream I had?

"Dude, Raven! See if you can fix her!" Beast Boy yells, running over to me.

"I have no idea what's happening to her. Do you really think I can heal her?"

"Well…what else are we supposed to do?" he asks, turning toward Starfire's twitching figure.

Starfire begins gagging as more of the white substance spreads across her face. "Star!" Robin yells, grabbing Starfire by her shoulders.

"R-Robin?" Her voice has changed to an echo and we can hear another voice behind hers.

"What happened, Star?" The blob continues forming to look like a cat's, but there are eyeholes for her eyes and her mouth is being covered with the blob.

"I…do not know…I heard…a noise in…my room…I opened my eyes…and saw this man with…brown hair…after that…this thing began forming…on me…" she explains, coughing momentarily.

"What did he look like exactly?" I ask, going rigid as I remember the strange man in my dream.

"His hair…was pushed back…with a single strand…over his face…He…said… 'You will be the first test subject'…That is when this happened to me…He…had this strange ball…in his hand…I believe that is what-" Starfire stops as more of the strange substance begins spreading across her face. It stops forming, leaving just her right eye visible. Her mouth is covered by the mask. The mouth reminds me of Cheshire's grinning face and there are two red markings underneath the left eyehole. With most of the mask having formed onto her face, she passes out.

"Is…is she going to be ok?" Beast Boy asks, fearing for his friend's life.

"She will…I'll stay with her…you guys can go get some rest…" Robin suggests, turning back to Starfire. I leave the room before Cyborg and Beast Boy could and I head to my room. I think about Starfire's information and I suddenly hear a voice.

"…And then the third class is Vasto Lorde. They're the greatest of the Menos and about the same size as a human. There are very few of them. It's said that there are only a few of them in all of Hueco Mundo. Bluntly put…a Vasto Lorde's battle abilities are even greater than a Captain's. By changing the Menos into Arrancar, they come into possession of an incalculable amount of power. With three of our captains now on their side commanding all those Menos, we can say this: If, at this point in time, Aizen manages to bring ten Vasto Lordes under his control…then it's the end of the Soul Society…" With that, the connection stops and I can no longer hear the voice. But two words suddenly pop up in my mind as the connection stops, "Karakura Town."

I begin mulling over the words the voice said. The voice belonged to a man…he must have been explaining about this…Vasto Lorde…to a group of people. There were some words I didn't understand…Menos, Vasto Lorde, Hueco Mundo, Arrancar, Soul Society…and Aizen, who must be the enemy. Then there's that town…Karakura…Town…I close my eyes again, hoping to find the connection again. Nothing…but silence.

* * *

><p>-Ichigo's House-<p>

Tōshirō Hitsugaya, the white-haired captain of 10th division, feels a strange feeling in his stomach as he explains the three types of Menos to the substitute Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. As he tells Ichigo about the strongest type, Vasto Lorde, he senses a presence. But once he finishes explaining, both the presence and the strange feeling disappears.

"_What was that…? The reiatsu was about as high as a Captain's…but I don't recognize it…Could they be here at Karakura Town?"_ He decides to shrug it off and notices Renji pulling something out of the doll as it continues to wriggle around.

"Hey, can you really get it out?" His assistant captain, Rangiku Matsumoto, asks.

Renji pulls his hand out as the pill pops out. He grabs it and declares, "Got it! This is it!"

"It's kind of nasty looking," Rangiku comments, looking at the pill. She picks up the doll and continues, "For a gikon to come out so easily, it's either a simple design or a crazy one. That's our Bureau of Technological Development for you."

"Hey…" Ichigo interrupts.

"They do things a bit differently," she continues on, ignoring Ichigo.

"I said hey!"

"What is it?" Renji asks, turning towards him.

"When are you guys going back?" Ichigo questions as Renji stuffs Kon back into the doll.

"What are you talking about? We aren't going back. We're going to be here until the fight against the Arrancar is over," he explains as Kon wriggles around in his hand.

"…Well…where are you gonna sleep? And before you answer, there's no way my house has enough space for all of you," he says, looking back and forth between the 6 Shinigami.

"Ah? Not even for me?" Rangiku asks, her eyes blinking at him.

Ichigo takes a step back and yells, "Normally, you'd be the last one I'd let stay! Besides, I don't get why you think it would be ok for you to stay here!" Rangiku ponders over something, and then starts to unbutton her shirt as Renji and Kon blush. Ichigo begins freaking out and yells, "What are you doing? You can't stay here even if you unbutton your shirt!" She stops and pulls up a bit of her skirt as Ichigo covers his eyes. "You still can't stay here even if you lift up your skirt a little! Damn it! Seduction like that is not going to work on me! I'm definitely not that type of guy!" He exclaims, even though one of his eyes are open.

Rukia stands behind him and argues, "Then, how about you close that gap between your fingers?"

Then she decides to leave and states, "Well, for the time being, I'll stay at Orihime's."

"Stay there? Did Orihime say it was ok?" Ichigo asks as Kon's ear twitches.

"No, but that kid can't say no once someone asks her a favor," she replies, grinning.

Kon then ponders over the situation in his mind, _"Orihime and Rangiku staying in the same room!"_ Then he imagines a dirty image and leaps towards Rangiku screaming, "What an amazing forbidding garden! How about a mascot character in that garden-!" But before he can grab onto her, she karate chops him onto the ground.

"Are you coming too, Captain?" Rangiku asks, turning towards Tōshirō.

"Of course not, you idiot!"

"You should come! It'll be fun!" she suggests as the two walk down the road.

"For you maybe."

"We'll be leaving too," Ikkaku informs Ichigo, talking about himself and Yumichika.

"Any idea where to?" Ichigo asks.

"Like I'm supposed to know. I don't need you to take care of me. I never intended to ask for help from you. You've got to find a place to sleep on your own, you know?" he replies, walking away from them with Yumichika following.

"You should hide that wooden sword while walking around," Ichigo warns.

Renji takes a step forward towards the opposite direction, announcing, "Well then, I'm off to Urahara's."

"Planning to freeload off of him again?" Ichigo asks, turning towards him.

"Who'd want to do that there? Besides, there's a few things I want to ask him," he explains, walking away.

"I see…"

"Be careful!" Rukia says, waving her hand.

Then Ichigo turns towards her and asks, "So? Where are you planning on staying?" She freezes momentarily and rushes towards his house.

"Wait up! Rukia!" he yells, chasing after her.

"Fool! This is the only place I can really sleep!" she explains, kicking off her shoes and running into the house.

"You idiot! My family already saw you! Just what type of excuse are you going to use?" he yells, kicking off his shoes and following her into the house. "Listen to me, damn it!"

* * *

><p>"How's she doing?" I ask, floating into the room. I notice Robin jump at my voice and he turns towards me.<p>

"She's still unconscious…I don't know what this is…This is the first time I've seen something like this…We need to find someone who knows more about this…"

I debate over the situation, remembering the strange dream and conversation from earlier. I decide that I should probably tell him, worried about his reaction. "…Robin…I think I might know where we can find help…"

He immediately turns his entire body around and begins to ask me a tsunami of questions. "Who is it? Where can we get the help? Can we trust them? How do you even know-" I bring up a hand to stop him and I turn towards Starfire.

"I don't know exactly where or who the person is, but I heard a Japanese accent."

Robin's shoulders slump and he asks, "Do you know…the location of where they were? Japan's a pretty big place…"

"I…heard…this term…Karakura Town. I'm not sure, but I know that it was the same voice by the person I heard earlier."

"Karakura Town…I'll look it up. Can you see if you can heal her while I go search? If I find something, I'll let you guys know right away," Robin commands, walking out of the room.

I turn towards Starfire and realize with surprise that the mask completed itself. It looks just like Cheshire's, but there is something about it that makes it more threatening. "Starfire?"

I see her head twitch and she turns towards me. I look through the eyeholes and see glowing green eyes as if she's using her powers. "R…Raven?" she asks, uncertainly.

"…Star? Are you ok?" She pushes herself off the bed and lunges at me. I barely manage to dodge and she turns her head towards me. "Starfire! What's wrong with you?" I question her, ducking from her attack. She crashes into the wall and I run out the door as she shakes off the impact. I run into Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"Yo, Raven! What's going on? We heard noises coming from the Medic Room," Cyborg asks.

"Starfire attacked me. I don't know if she's doing it consciously or unconsciously, but she's coming. We have to go tell Robin!" I yell, running past them as they follow. I dart into the Ops Room to find Robin in front of the doors.

"Raven! I've found Karakura Town. We need to go get Star and-" he pushes me aside as he ducks with me. A green starbolt zooms past us, colliding with the sofa. I put up a shield as she rams right into it.

Cyborg and Beast Boy show up seconds later and quickly restrains her. She begins growling and struggling from them. Robin walks over and attempts to pull off the mask. She shakes his hand off and almost manages to push the two boys off, but I use my dark energy to detain her. They get off and turn towards Robin. "What's happened to her?" Beast Boy asks.

"…Pack your bags…We're going to Japan again."

"What? Really? Are we going to Tokyo again?" Beast Boy asks again, getting excited.

"Well, the location is in Western Tokyo. Raven, do you think you can keep her like that until we get there?"

I pause for a moment and then I shake my head. "I can't keep it up for that long."

"I'll build a cage for her, then," Cyborg suggests.

"As long as it's not something that she can break through. You have to remember that she has alien strength," Robin explains.

"I bet that mask enhances her powers. So it needs to be a strong cage," I realize.

With that, Cyborg leaves the room to begin building. I look over to Starfire and notice that she's unconscious. So, I bring her back to the Medical Bay and wrap my energy around her. I see Beast Boy come in and he glances over at Starfire. "Is she going to be ok?" he asks me.

"Once we bring her to Karakura Town and find the person we're looking for, she will," I assure him.

Robin walks in and says, "Beast Boy, go pack. Raven, you can go. I'll watch her while you go get ready."

"I'll be fine, I don't need to pack. I can watch her."

"…Alright." Both boys leave and I turn towards Starfire.

"You'll be fine…" I whisper, sitting down on the chair. Suddenly, I begin hearing voices again and I force myself to focus on the conversation. There might be something important in it.

"_Prepare yourself, Matsumoto. They're here…" Suddenly, two men show up in front of them. One is tall and skinny with a mask on his head with a bit covering his left eye. The other man has a mask covering half of his face and he's chubby._

"_Nice to meet you…" the tall one states, and then a blur zooms towards the white-haired person. The one that I had heard earlier._

_The two swords clash as the orange-haired woman screams, "Captain!" But she leaps back as the other man crashes onto the ground right where she had been standing seconds before._

"_I am Arrancar Eleven, Shawlong…" The tall man introduces as he pushes his sword against the white-haired captain._

"_I'm the captain of the 10__th__ squad, Hitsugaya Tōshirō." They push off and separate._

"_Captain of the 10__th__ squad…My, my, how wonderful…It looks like I hit the jackpot," the man named Shawlong comments._

"_No. You're probably the biggest loser of all…" Tōshirō replies threateningly, a strange icy-blue aura coming out of his body."_

"_Oh?" Shawlong calmly replies._

I shoot straight up as I hear struggling on the bed. "Starfire…?" I ask her.

She ignores me and continues to try and escape. I cover her entire body with my dark energy, but she manages to burst out. The force from it pushes me back and I hit the wall. She turns around and crashes against the window. The window cracks and flies out of the tower as I get up. Robin and Beast Boy dart into the room to find Starfire flying away.

"Raven…what happened?" Robin asks, helping me.

"She…started struggling. And she managed to escape from my powers…that mask must have enhanced her powers tenfold…" I explain.

"Beast Boy, go tell Cyborg to stop what he's doing and start packing. We're going straight to Karakura Town in one hour. Go get ready," he commands the two of us.

I head out of the room as I try to find the connection again. Before I can get any farther, I hear a voice, speaking to me.

"_Who are you, exactly?" _

_I pause as the owner of the voice appears. "Are you… Tōshirō Hitsugaya?" I ask as I look at his attire. He is wearing a strange black outfit with a white, sleeveless kimono on top of the clothes. There is a green sash around his shoulders being held together by a round clip. There is a sword above his right shoulder and his hand is gripping the hilt._

_His eyes widen, surprised to know that I know who he is and pulls the sword it a few inches. "Tell me again…who are you?"_

"_I'm…Raven…from Jump City," I reply hesitantly. "Are you the one that I keep hearing in my voice?"_

_He looks at me incredulously, sheathes his sword, and replies, "Probably…"_

"_Wait, are you one of the residents in Karakura Town?" I ask._

"_I suppose so…are you coming to Karakura Town?" _

"_We're going to leave in about an hour. But the flight there would probably 10 hours if we push our T-ship full throttle," I answer._

_He ponders over something and then he says, "We'll wait for you. Land in an easy spot to get to and we'll find you."_

_I nod and the connection stops._

I look around and I see Robin coming out of his room. "You've been standing there for a while now. What's going on?"

"I was…talking to the person that lives in Karakura Town. He says to land in an easy spot to get to. Then he'll find us."

Robin nods and asks, "You don't need to get ready?"

"I'll be fine…" I go into my room and I look around, seeing if I need anything. I exit the room, empty-handed, and I go to the Ops Room. I find Beast Boy sitting on the sofa with two bags next to him. "Ready?"

He turns his head to me and nods. I see Cyborg coming into the room with a duffel bag in tow. He is wearing a dark jacket with black pants to match it, meaning he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. "She escaped?" Cyborg asks me, with disbelief in his voice.

"I have a feeling she'll be going to Karakura Town. We'll see her there," I reply.

Robin comes into the room with a backpack and turns to Cyborg. "Is the T-Ship ready?"

"Yeah, do you have the coordinates there?" Robin nods and we all head down to the T-Ship.

Robin gets in the front as I get in the right part of the ship with Beast Boy in the middle. Cyborg puts our bags into the trunk and then jumps into the back. The engines roar into life as we head back to Japan.

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><p><em>Elsewhere...<em>

"Aizen-sama…" A voice begins, walking into his throne room.

"What is it…Kaname?"

"The first test subject is coming to Japan. Shall we send some Arrancar to deal with her?"

"No, her teammates are probably on her trail…We'll see how this turns out. And head to the meeting room. I shall see you there…"

"Yes, my lord." As Kaname leaves, Aizen grins evilly. He descends and sees Gin standing to the side.

"Let's go, Gin." The two head down the corridor as they meet up with Kaname. The door at the end of the hallway opens and the 10 Espada look towards him as he (conceitedly) walks in. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Espada…we have some business to discuss…"

_TBC…_

**Lefty: Finished! And I've finally fixed it! :3**


	2. Meeting the Vizards

**Ok I'll be answering any reviews in here now. I'm running out of humor now XD And see what happens when you review? I update faster! No, jk…I've had the first two chapters waiting for a while now XD Chapter 3's being worked on right now. I promise I'll have it updated as soon as possible, so…how did I do without my beta reader/friend? Trust me, it'll be a lot better once she starts editing. My brain…doesn't want to think so if I do the math for Japan and San Francisco incorrect…let me know *grins***

**Fanamaniac: Ahaha, it's love and he doesn't want the others to die. I tried to keep them in character but I can't do that…Yep, she only needs a toothbrush. Yeah I couldn't think of anything, but maybe she's just SOO tired after fighting someone like Mumbo Jumbo or Dr. Light (yeah right Lol) **

**Ultrawolfie: What's this about May annoying you? O.o? First chapter is right as Grimmjow is attacking. This chapter is Ichigo seeking to train. Third chapter is still being developed. Yeah, Aizen's a butt face…I would love to swing my racket at his face every few times…*grins evilly***

**Luffyfan1: Thank you I've drawn some sketches of their masks. But I still can't think of anything for Raven.**

**5stareader (also a friend): Mwahahahaha:) If cliffhangers didn't exist, stories wouldn't be that interesting would they? **

**WingedHero540: Thanks for favoriting my story :D**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, like I own Bleach or Teen Titans…I'm not THAT amazing.**

**Oh right, there will be cursing…after all, this is Bleach so of course there will be cursing.**

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><p><em>12 Hours after the Titans' Departure…<em>

9 A.M.

-Raven-

We descend onto the field next to an abandoned warehouse. I see the same 15 year old I had seen in my dreams a while ago walking into the abandoned warehouse. We get out and peek into the warehouse. We see him standing on the ground, looking up at 8 people.

A girl with blonde pigtails is on the lowest part with a man with silver hair and piercings. The center of them is a boy with jaw-length, blonde hair with another blond-haired man standing to his left and a black-haired girl to his right. The top has a pink-haired, chubby man at the center with a green-haired girl to his side and a spiky afro-haired man stands to his left. The first and last thing we hear before the door closes is: "Good job finding this place…Ichigo…"

We turn to each other with question marks and Robin decides, "We'll wait here and we should probably see what's going on. Raven, see if you can contact that person."

I close my eyes and the connection starts again.

"_Tōshirō?" I look around and I feel an icy presence walking up behind me._

"_Are you already here?" He is wearing a black, short-sleeved, golf shirt and gray pants, very different from that black outfit he had been wearing before._

"_Yeah, we're at the edge of town from what I've noticed. Most of the buildings are abandoned and I saw this orange-haired kid…Ichigo, I think, head into the warehouse next to me. How long do you think it'll take for you to come here?"_

_Tōshirō's eyes widen from the name and he replies, "The rest of us are recuperating right now. It might be a while before we see you. Can you stay there for about a day?"_

"_I'm pretty sure it'll be fine."_

"_And watch over Kurosaki. I'll tell Rukia and the others that he's training. See you in a day or so."_

_The connection ends and I open my eyes._

I see Cyborg bringing the bags out of the ship as Robin is standing in front of me. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"I told him to look for a window to fly through and look at the situation. What did the guy say?"

"He said that 'the rest of us are recuperating' and that he'll see if he can make it tomorrow. He suggested that we stay where we are until he comes."

Robin stares at me suspiciously and then asks, "Can we really trust him?"

"He looks trustworthy, plus he seems to know who that guy was."

"You mean that Ichigo?" I nod and we see Beast Boy flying over to us in a bird form. "What happened?"

"Um, that orange-haired guy…"

"Ichigo," I correct.

"Right, Ichigo. He was fighting those two blondes and then the girl was being choked by him. Plus both the girl and he had masks just like Starfire."

"Did you see Star in there?" Robin asks, getting rigid. Beast Boy shakes his head as Robin's shoulders slump.

"…We'll find her soon…" I assure him.

The three of us walk over and find Cyborg with everything unloaded. "I heard we're staying here for a while. I'll pitch up four tents for each of us," he begins, pulling out four rolled-up tents.

"What happened after she was being choked?" Robin asks Beast Boy.

"She almost died, but then the rest of the people stopped Ichigo. The leader's called Shinji and he broke the mask. He said that Ichigo…passed and that they'll show him how to suppress his…Hollow…I think?"

"What's a Hollow?" Cyborg asks, stopping halfway with one of the tents and turning towards us.

Beast Boy shrugs and I suggest that I go watch Ichigo and the other 8. "Don't stay too long though…" Robin says. I fly up and look around for a window that I can peek through. I fly to the back of the warehouse and I look through the window. There is no one in there and I decide to fly back to the T-Ship. Before I leave, I see a flash of red in the warehouse.

Ichigo's House

Yuzu runs out of the dining room when she hears the front door close. But her happiness changes to disappointment when Rukia walks in and not her older brother, Ichigo. "Rukia-chan! How did it go? Did you find Ichigo?" Yuzu asks hoping for good news.

Rukia looks away sadly and replies, "No…I'm sorry…"

"Oh…" she mumbles, tears forming. Rukia notices Karin standing by the door with a calm look and she takes Yuzu back.

Later that night, Rukia is on the roof looking out at the town. "I can't find any trace of his reiatsu. Where did you go…Ichigo…?"

Abandoned Warehouse: 11:00 P.M.

-Raven-

I sit inside my tent with my eyes closed. Instead of hearing Tōshirō's voice, I hear a girl's voice and it sounds like she's talking to herself.

"_I can't find any trace of his reiatsu. Where did you go…Ichigo?"_ I wonder if she's one of the people that Tōshirō knows. I hear a faint scream outside the tent and I open it quickly.

"BB!" Cyborg yells, opening Beast Boy's tent. Robin and I stand behind him as we all peek into the tent. Cyborg pulls him out and we see the same white substance that was on Starfire the night before. But this time, it has just started forming. Before we could say anything, he passes out and the mask finishes forming. But it still looks like the white substance and the only thing that has changed are the two fangs around where his mouth would be.

"Beast Boy?" Robin asks, shaking his shoulder. Beast Boy remains unresponsive and I hear footsteps walking towards us.

"Who are you?" I ask as the shadow comes closer.

"Shinji Hirako…I felt some strong spiritual pressure coming from the outside. So, I decided to explore and I find three teenagers…and one that's forming a Hollow mask," he introduces, looking over at Beast Boy.

"Do you know Tōshirō Hitsugaya?" I promptly ask as he walks over to Beast Boy.

"Nope, if he's a Shinigami, then I probably don't. I only know some of them. I'm just someone that lives in that warehouse. Oh, the mask stopped forming…" he comments.

I turn my head towards Beast Boy and the mask really did finish. The mouth area has two pointy teeth like a saber tooth tiger and a row of teeth underneath it. There are two small holes that will allow him to look through. The mask resembles a saber tooth tiger as much as Starfire's resemblance to Cheshire's. "Can you help us?" Robin asks, turning to Shinji.

"Well, why not? We saw this red-haired girl flying by earlier. She collapsed in front of the warehouse about 5 hours before you guys came here. She had a mask on her face like that kid over there. But this is weird…we've only heard of Ichigo becoming a Vizard…" he mumbles at the end.

"Wait! You saw a red-haired girl? Did she have green eyes?" Robin hastily asks.

"I don't know; the mask's still on her face. It looks like a grinning cat though and she's in the warehouse. Come on, I'll help you guys with both of them." He picks up Beast Boy and heads back to his warehouse as we cautiously follow him.

"Who are you guys? And what's a…Vizard?" Cyborg asks Shinji.

"We're the Vizards. We're…people that acquired Hollow powers. Although, it used to be just the 8 of us until we found out Ichigo was like us. This is the first time we've seen people besides us become a Vizard, though. The girl woke up about an hour after we took her in and was fighting us until Hachi managed to restrain her. Now, we're having her rest up," he explains.

The warehouse opens and there are a few lights turned on above us. As we walk in, I sense two people above us. Before I can look up, I hear quick footsteps like someone's running and the girl with the pigtails comes into view and kicks Shinji in the face. He drops Beast Boy by accident as he jumps away from the girl. "WHAT THE HELL HIYORI!"

"Why the hell are you letting strangers come into the warehouse? You dumbass!" she yells, pointing at us. Cyborg kneels down to pick up Beast Boy and the girl notices the mask on his face. "Who the hell's he?"

"He's our teammate and Shinji says that he can help us with both Beast Boy and Starfire," Robin explains as the girl walks over to us.

"And what makes you think we're gonna help you? Huh?" she asks menacingly looking up at him. The girl is a lot shorter than him so she has to look up more.

"Look, he's the one who offered it. We just want someone to help Beast Boy and Starfire," I explain, cutting in before Robin could say anything.

"We're already watching that red-haired girl! What makes you think we're going to let 4 more people stay here?" she asks, pointing at me.

"Just let them, Hiyori. Two of them are turning into Vizards and we have to help them gain control of their Inner Hollows. We've got no choice. Aizen took the Hōgyoku, which means we have to show them how to resist their Hollows. If not, those two will kill their teammates once they wake up…"

"Tch, fine…" she agrees reluctantly, going back the direction she came through.

"Now that that's settled, I'll show you guys where to stay. Follow me." He turns to the opposite direction and we follow him cautiously. We emerge into a small room and I see four beds each separated by a partition after Shinji turns on the light. I see a lump on the one farthest from us and Shinji walks over to it. "Hey, Lisa, we're going to have some more people staying with us."

She sits up and puts on her glasses, looking at us. She spots Beast Boy and turns towards Shinji asking, "What, another one?"

Shinji nods and takes Beast Boy from Cyborg. "You guys will be staying here with Lisa. I'll be taking this guy to the room with that girl. We'll be monitoring them throughout the night to make sure they don't do anything." With that, he closes the door and we turn towards Lisa.

"Choose your beds. I recommend the big one at the end for the guy in the sweatshirt," she suggests, pointing at the bed closest to the door. "We'll talk more tomorrow once you meet the rest of the Vizards."

Cyborg walks over to the last bed and crawls in, not even taking off his sweatshirt. Robin goes to the bed next to Cyborg's and takes off his cape, draping it over the partition. He takes off his shoes and crawls into bed with the mask on. I unclasp my brooch and hang it on my partition. "Not very cautious are you?" Lisa begins as I take off my boots.

"You guys were the ones that decided to help us," I reply, crawling into the blanket. I hear a faint tap on the nightstand next to her bed and I realize that she had taken off her glasses.

"Well, this is the first time someone that isn't a Shinigami began to become a Vizard," she explains, lying down. "Well, we'll let Hachi look at them tomorrow…" A few minutes later, I hear her breathing quietly so I close my eyes as I enter a dreamless sleep.

Above Karakura Town

A dark-skinned Arrancar with brown, wavy hair and green eyes is suppressing her reiatsu as she scouts the area. She spots her teammate, a girl with heterochromia (two differently colored eyes) and black, jaw-length hair standing on top of a warehouse with her reiatsu also suppressed. She descends and lands next to her. "Why do we have to scout around?" the dark-skinned Arrancar complains.

"Halibel-sama was the only one that volunteered to have a scouting team, remember? It's not our fault the other Espada are lazy asses," her teammate replies angrily.

"Tch, Nnoitra probably doesn't want to do any of this stuff for Aizen-sama. Plus, Starrk's too lazy to do that and Baraggan barely listens to Aizen-sama. Szayel-Aporro probably wouldn't do something like this. Yammy's dog can't do anything and Grimmjow's Fracción are all dead. So we're stuck with the scouting…" she notices.

"Oi, Mila-Rose! They're on the move!"

"I know that, Apacci. Now shut the hell up, otherwise they're gonna hear us!" Mila-Rose replies angrily.

The pair looks down as the Titans and Shinji walk into the warehouse. The girl with the blue cape, Raven as Aizen had told them, stops momentarily. They duck their heads a bit more, hoping she won't spot them. Luckily, Hiyori kicks Shinji in the face and both her and her teammates walk in. "So, those four are the ones that Aizen-sama is planning to use…" a voice pipes up, making both of them jump.

Their last teammate, a female with long olive-green hair stands behind them with her right arm covering her mouth. "Damn it, Sun-sun! You didn't have to do that! They could have seen you!"

"If they weren't in there right now, they would probably be hearing your loud mouth, Apacci," she calmly retorts.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Ladies…" A quiet voice begins, stopping their brewing argument. The three look up to find their master, Tia Halibel, descending. "…Have you found the five we're searching for?"

"They are all in there, Halibel-sama," Sun-sun replies.

"Then we shall return to report to Aizen-sama…" she says, turning around to open up a Garganta. The three follow her into it as it disappears as quickly as it had appeared.

The next day

I sit up and look around at my surroundings. I remember what happened to Beast Boy the night before and I quickly put on my boots and cape. I go over to the bed to the left of me and Lisa isn't there anymore. I hear rustling and I see Robin and Cyborg getting up. "Let's go," Robin orders, as he puts his cape on. The three of us head out to find Lisa waiting outside for us.

She leads the way and we enter the main part. There are 8 others and she turns towards Shinji. "Yo!" Shinji greets, walking over to us.

"Who are they?" the silver-haired man asks.

"They know that girl that we found yesterday. And another of their friends began Hollowfying the night before. Oh right, he's Kensei Muguruma. The green-haired girl's Mashiro Kuna and the one with the glasses is Love Aikawa. The guy with the yellow hair's Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, more known as Rose to us. The big guy's Hachigen Ushōda, but we call him Hachi. The girl that kicked me in the face last night's Hiyori Sarugaki. And she's Lisa Yadōmaru," he introduces, pointing to each of the Vizards.

"What about that guy?" Robin asks, pointing at the one supposedly called Ichigo. He is wearing the same attire as Tōshirō, but without the white coat on him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki! And who the hell are you guys?" he introduces, pointing at us.

"I'm Robin, he's Cyborg, and she's Raven," he explains, gesturing to us.

"Are you guys Shinigami?

"Now that the introductions are out of the way, Hiyori's going to set you up to something so you can start training, Ichigo. Whose turn is it to get lunch today?" he asks, turning to the Vizards.

"It's supposed to be Mashiro and Hachi," Kensei answers. The two leave as Hiyori takes Ichigo off to the top of the warehouse. The rest of them follow as we stand there, confused.

"We'll be watching your friends too. They're up there too and still unconscious. We can keep an eye on both of them and Ichigo," Shinji explains as they push themselves up. Robin pulls out a grappling hook and pulls himself up as I make a disc for Cyborg to have him fly up. When we reach the top, we see Hiyori telling Ichigo to just run on the walker. "They're over there." Shinji points to two beds with Starfire and Beast Boy on them. "We're not restraining them unless they attack us so no need to worry."

With that, he walks over to the couch to keep a close eye on Ichigo along with the rest of the Vizards. The three of us sit down on the chairs in front of their beds as we watch Ichigo begin his training. I hear Tōshirō's voice in my head so I close my eyes. _"We have to stay here and set something up. Can you wait for a few more days?"_

"_That's fine; we found a spot to stay at."_

"_Alright, I'll let you know when I'm coming…"_ The conversation ends and I look over to find Ichigo running on something with the Vizards lounging around.

After about 30 minutes of watching Ichigo and looking over Beast Boy and Starfire, I hear Shinji complaining about lunch being late. "Lunch is late, huh?" Shinji begins as Ichigo's panting can be heard in the background. "Hiyori, cook something up for me."

"Yeah, dream on," she scoffs. "Why should I make you anything? Even if I did make something, there's no way I'd give any to you, dumbass."

"Hey Love, have you heard that Prince of Darkness CD that just came out?" Rose asks, changing the subject.

"No, but have you read this week's Shonen Jump? Hysterical!" Love asks, ignoring his question as he laughs.

"How could I? You never let anyone read it but you," he replies.

"Lisa, take proper care of that Shinigami," Kensei instructs, wrapping bandages around his left arm.

"Don't worry, I won't let him out of my sight," she replies, not looking up from the magazine.

"Yeah, but you're not watching him! You're just sitting there looking at swimsuit catalogs!" he retorts.

"Can it, I can see the Shinigami just fine."

"That's not the point. You're on duty today aren't you? You're supposed to be training him!" Kensei argues as Ichigo continues panting.

"Fine, have it your way," she replies reluctantly with a sigh. "1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…"

"Lunch sure is late," Shinji complains again.

"Stop talking about it! You're only making us more hungry than we already are!" As Lisa continues counting and Love laughing his head off, I notice some veins popping on Ichigo's face and his eye twitching.

"I…can't take it anymore!" he yells, kicking the machine towards Hiyori. She turns away, grabbing Shinji's sleeve with her so he gets the impact of the machine.

She turns around screaming, "WHAT'S THE IDEA? YOU TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, DUMBASS, AND YOU'RE DEAD!"

"I was…I was…just gonna say that to him…" Shinji shakily replies, blood trickling down his forehead.

"I should be saying it to you! You bragged about how you're gonna teach me how to control and suppress the Hollow inside me forever! So why the hell are you idiots making me run all day long on this cheap, home-made, poor excuse for a cross-country machine?" he yells, pointing at the machine. "Wait, scratch that! You're not the idiots…I'M THE IDIOT FOR LISTENING TO YOU!" he continues as the rest of them stop and look at him.

As he and Hiyori continue arguing, the door opens and Mashiro and Hachi comes in. "Lunch is here…" Mashiro announces as she and Hachi bring in the food.

"Ah…sounds good. I'm starved," Love says, turning back towards the two arguing.

"Quit calling me dumbass, snaggletooth! And how the hell can you consider this training?"

"I'll call you dumbass any time I want, dumbass!" she retorts, Shinji still being held by her.

"Should I interrupt them to tell lunch is here? It might get cold," Mashiro asks.

"Nah, don't bother. I'll eat theirs," Love replies as Mashiro hands a bento to him.

"What the hell are they up to?" Robin pipes up, looking at Ichigo and Hiyori.

"Beats me, but we should probably just stay away from them," Cyborg answers. Hiyori then kicks Ichigo in the face, making him land on the floor.

Then she picks up the machine, runs towards him and commands, "OH QUIT COMPLAINING AND KEEP ON RUNNING UNTIL YOU DROP!" She throws the machine at his chin and it flies off somewhere else as he grips his chin in pain. Before they can continue arguing, Shinji steps in and explains that "Hiyori's Super Walker" is the foundation of his training. The rest of the Vizards, Cyborg, and I go to listen to Ichigo as Robin continues watching the two.

"Just teach me how to control my Hollowfication already! I don't have time to waste on this crap, damnit! I CANNOT afford to lose anymore playing around with you Vizards!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Shinji aggressively yells, causing Ichigo to flinch. The tension increases before Shinji begins talking again. "You don't have time? Well that's really something coming from a guy who doesn't even know how long it takes for the Hōgyoku to awaken…"

"Wait a minute…What did you just say?"

"I said stop blabbing when you don't know anything about the Hōgyoku or anything at all about Hollowfication!"

"What is this? How do you know about…How is it possible you know about the Hōgyoku?" Ichigo asks in shock.

"I know all about it…The Hōgyoku, the Arrancars, even Sōsuke Aizen…I've known all about them for many, many years…Heh…" Shinji replies. He suddenly leaps down in front of Ichigo and puts his hand in front of Ichigo's face. "Don't worry; I'll give you all the details another day…I thought it would be a good idea to take some time at the beginning. So you can get used to us…but…now that I think about it, you can already turn into a Shinigami. You can use your Shikai…and…you have…a Bankai…"

"You know all about that too?" Ichigo asks, shocked.

"But I can see it would be better if we jumped right into teaching you how to control your Hollow…Just like you originally asked us to…are you ready, Ichigo?" he asks as some white energy begins forming at his hand. "I hope you don't…regret this…" A bright light spreads throughout the warehouse and when we open our eyes, we notice Ichigo on Love's shoulder with dull eyes. Shinji closes his eyes and turns towards Hachi, "Hachi, give us a two-layered fault force field."

"Alright then…" he replies, clapping his hands together. I see an orange force field spread around the warehouse as a part of the floor opens up and they all walk down the steps.

"You guys can go with us if you want, but we'll have to bring those two with us…"

"I'll stay here," Robin says, looking down to them. Shinji nods and Cyborg and I follow them down the stairs.

_Behind Robin, Starfire's hand twitches slightly under the blankets as Beast Boy's eyes blink open momentarily before closing them again…_

**Hueco Mundo**

Las Noches

"I see…" Aizen replies as Halibel and her Fracción stand at the bottom of his throne. "We shall wait a few more days before sending some Espada to test their skills…Thank you Halibel…you may leave now."

"Yes…Aizen-sama…" Halibel bows and turns around with her Fracción following behind her.

"Don't tell me WE'RE going to be the ones sent again," Apacci complains.

"He said Espada, weren't you listening? That means he'll send just Espada, no Fracción like us," Mila-Rose corrects.

"Of course I was listening! But if he chooses Halibel-sama, that means we have to go because we're her Fracción!"

"Stop quarreling. We are serving under Halibel-sama, meaning that we will go with her if Aizen-sama ordered her to," Sun-sun interrupts.

"Tch, you know as much as I do that since she's the…" Apacci runs into Mila-Rose. "What the hell, Mila-Rose?" Apacci looks in front of her and sees Nnoitra and his only Fracción, Tesla blocking Halibel's path.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Volunteering to scout ahead! Hah! You witch; I bet you're just sucking up to Aizen. Who the hell do you think you are?" Nnoitra insults, looking down at Halibel.

Halibel looks straight ahead, calmly without replying. She gestures to the three girls, telling them to leave. They leave reluctantly and Apacci turns back around, seeing Halibel's calming gaze on the trio.

They arrive at their room and Apacci hesitantly sits down on her bed. "This always happens! Aizen tells Halibel-sama to do something related to the Shinigami and then that bastard Nnoitra starts criticizing her about it! Damnit, we should go and stop him!"

"You know as well as I do that we can't handle an Espada. Halibel-sama's stronger than Nnoitra so she'll be fine," Mila-Rose replies.

"Tch…" Apacci mutters, looking away. She walks over to the window and looks out to the dark skies of Hueco Mundo. _"…Is she going to fight him?"_She wonders as she closes her eyes.

Abandoned Warehouse: Training Room

"Where are we?" Cyborg asks looking around. Love puts Ichigo down next to his sword.

"We're in a training area. This is where we train and this is where your friends and Ichigo are going to defeat their Inner Hollows…" Shinji pauses and turns towards Hachi. "Hey, Hachi…Throw up a force field here too."

"Whaat?" Hachi asks.

"Don't '_Whaat_' me. You're standing there with your mouth open looking like you're trying to catch flies. Just do it ok? And seal off Ichigo's body as well…"

Hachi stands there shocked before saying, "As you wish." He claps his hands together and begins saying an incantation, "Wall of iron sand, tower formed from hate, forge molten iron and neatly finish in silence. Bakudo #75, Gochūtekkan!" Five pillars descend from above and land on Ichigo's body. They wait for a few minutes before Ichigo starts twitching and the atmosphere around him begins to shake.

"Here it comes…" Shinji announces as Ichigo's body continues convulsing.

He lifts his head up as the pillars collide with each other. Lisa stands up with her sword and heads to the force field as Ichigo stands up, making the pillars collapse.

"Hachigen, open it up please. I'm the one on duty today so I'll be going first," she requests. Hachi makes a movement with his hand and a small arch opens for her to walk into.

"Let's try not to kill him, Lisa," Shinji reminds her as she steps in.

"Yeah, if he doesn't kill me first," she replies. Ichigo grabs his sword as Lisa unsheathes hers. "My name is Lisa Yadōmaru…Nice to meet you!" Ichigo lunges towards her and the swords clash, beginning Ichigo's official training.

* * *

><p><strong>May: At least you get to improve your artwork…<strong>

**Lefty: Art…Art…Art…first period…first thing in the morning…WHY ART?**

**May: …Let me guess you can't draw to save your life…But you've done some sketches before, haven't you?**

**Lefty: *looks at sketches* …I definitely need Art to help me…**

**May: Exactly, maybe then you can post pictures of the Titans with their Vizard Masks on Deviant Art. Just a suggestion of course.**

**Lefty: Maybe I should…At least I didn't have to dance or anything for my ID card.**

**May: Unlike some people…And yes readers, the people working some stations will make you do embarrassing stuff.**

**Lefty: Anyways, review please! And if you have suggestions let me know! Plus, the easiest POV for me is Raven because I am 95% like her. I cannot do the others for the life of me. I could try Lady Halibel and I am NOT doing it from Ichigo's POV. Starfire's is VERY difficult, I can't even get the way she talks right…And my beta reader (my friend) and I will be busy because school is starting. But I will work on it as best as I can. Hoo...rah!**

**May: …Too much Biology with Alcaraz…Waaaayy too much Biology with him…*ahem* Any questions or suggestions?**


	3. The Link

**Well, school's started and I'm already screwed *fake grin*. So, my updates are going to take MUCH longer and I probably won't have much time on the story because I have summer Tennis even if I have no school during summer. Joy…sweet joy…Mwahahaha, getting my inspiration from JYJ**

**WARNING: You people better expect spoilers. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

**Fanamaniac: My excuse for BB becoming a Vizard is that he was exposed to Starfire for too long (it's love…Lol). Don't ask about the other three because I'll have to spoil the story XD I'm not sure myself, I'm just doing it from my research on Bleach Wiki and my beliefs about the Hōgyoku. Tempted to have a Raven/Toshiro pairing, Lol. Should I? *smirks evilly* Let's hope he doesn't get hurt *laughs***

**Ultrawolfie: I am like a professional at them bickering because I know people like them lol. Again, please don't kill me. And again, imagine Erza and Natsu becoming Vizards O.o I promise, I did not have Nnoitra do anything to Halibel. She's my favorite female character so there is no way I'm going to have him kill her or anything. And I'll be using your "A Big Happy Family?" relationships for Halibel and the other Espada.**

**In my friend's words should that happen: **Erza as a Vizard or Natsu…together they would demolish the world and then some…I'm serious. All I can say is that it would be apocalypse, war III, and the end of the universe should all of Fairy Tail, Teen Titans, and Justice League became Vizards** Have to agree with her there…Although I still don't know how to include the JL(U) into the Shinigami Titans equation. **

**Rating: Rated T because of Nnoitra, Grimmjow, and other people that have a potty mouth. **

**Disclaimer: Must I do this? Alright, I do not own this and I can somewhat defend myself. I am aspiring to be a teacher, graphics designer, or a defense attorney.**

**On with the story! **

Las Noches

"What do you want, Nnoitra?" Halibel asks, still not looking either Arrancar in the eye.

"You know what I want, bitch. Stop being his damn pet and step down from your position. I'm hell of a lot stronger than you are!" he demands, glaring at her with his one eye. His Fracción, Tesla, looks at Halibel as she stares ahead of them.

She walks around them saying, "That is only for Aizen-sama to decide." Nnoitra's rage increases as he swings his weapon at her. She uses Sonído and appears at the end of the hallway, right by her room. "Didn't Aizen-sama tell us not to fight?" she asks, opening the door to her room.

"You're just as weak as hell, bitch!" he retorts as she closes the door.

"Halibel-sama! Are you ok?" Apacci asks, rushing to her master's side.

"Of course she would. She's the Third Espada for Kami's sake!" Mila-Rose retorts, glaring at Apacci.

"I know that! But Nnoitra prefers violence over reasoning! Halibel-sama hates fighting! Don't you remember that, you idiot?"

"Of course I remember. She can handle him easily! Do you know that? I mean, you were the last one to join us when we were still Hollows!"

"Oh shut up you damn gor-"

"Just stop fighting you two. I've told you multiple times that it just makes you seem weak," Sun-sun interrupts.

"What was that, Sun-sun?" Their argument is stopped as Halibel suddenly collapses onto the bed. "Halibel-sama!" They rush to her side and they see her eyes closed in pain, clutching the sheets with her left hand.

"Halibel-sama!"

Abandoned Warehouse: Training Room

Raven flinches as a migraine passes through her head. She clutches her head as Cyborg glances over to her. "You ok?"

"…Yeah…" She drops her hand and glances into the barrier to watch Ichigo and Lisa fighting each other.

"3…2…1…It's been 10 minutes," Kensei mutters. He stands up saying, "Hachi! Time to switch out. Open it up right here." Ichigo pushes Lisa back a few yards before leaping up into the air. Before he can land a hit, Kensei elbows him in the stomach making him get pushed back. Kensei chucks his watch at Lisa and states, "Time's up. Switch places with me." As Lisa leaves, Ichigo lunges at Kensei. He spins his Zanpakutō on his finger. "Name's Kensei Muguruma." He grabs the hilt and threatens, "And I'm gonna kick your ass."

Outside, Lisa is resting as she asks, "How much break time do we get?"

Shinji turns towards her and replies, "If the eight of us all rotate in, it's ten minutes times 8 people, so eighty minutes!"

"There aren't eight people, dumbass. You can't count her so it's only seven!" Hiyori butts in.

"Fine, ten minutes times 7 people, seventy minutes!" Shinji decides, turning away annoyingly.

As Lisa catches her breath, she mutters, "Fight carefully, Kensei. Or else…" While Kensei continues to fight Ichigo, Lisa decides the length of the battle. _"To suppress the Hollow, the inner battle needs to be finished within an hour. Hachigen doesn't count, so it's really ten times six. Sixty minutes before it's my turn again. _"If it gets back to me, we're done for…"

Raven clutches her head again and glances towards Ichigo. _"What is this guy…?" _She wonders as she sees a woman lying down on a bed, clutching her head in pain as well.

Las Noches

"-libel-sama!" Apacci exclaims.

"I'll go tell Aizen what's happening. You two stay here!" Mila-Rose commands.

"I shall go to the medic," Sun-sun begins.

"Alright, fine!" Mila-Rose leaves and slams the door behind her.

"Don't let her die, Apacci…" Sun-sun mutters, leaving the room.

"Like hell I'm going to do that! Just hurry the hell up with the medic and Aizen!" Halibel suddenly twitches as Apacci stands by her nervously. "Halibel-sama! Are you ok?"

"Ungh…" she grunts, grabbing the sheets on her bed tightly.

"Halibel-sama!" Apacci grabs her shoulder, trying to turn her master towards her. "Halibel-sama!" She shakes her shoulder as Halibel pushes Apacci back. Her head is down, keeping Apacci from looking at her eyes.

"Apacci…do not…let Lord Aizen come in here…" she mutters, clutching her head and sitting down on the bed.

Apacci stands there confused and scared as Mila-Rose and Sun-sun rush in with a medic and Aizen. "What is going on?" Aizen asks calmly, looking at three Fracción.

"We don't know. She just suddenly collapsed after running into Nnoitra," Mila-Rose explains.

"That bastard must have done something to her…" Apacci mutters under her breath as the medic examines Halibel.

"She seems to be fine, physically. But there is something going on in her mind…" the medic explains the panicking girls and Aizen.

"Very well, you may leave now. I shall help her," Aizen commands. The medic leaves as the girls stand next to each other. "What happened, Halibel?"

She ignores Aizen and her body continues to shake. "Halibel-sama? What's going on?" Sun-sun asks her nervously, letting her right arm drop to her side. Halibel mutters something to Aizen.

He stands up and walks to the door. "Watch over her. She's finally started connecting with that mysterious girl from the Teen Titans…Leave her alone and just let it flow…" With that, he leaves the room.

The girls turn back to Halibel as she stops shaking. "Halibel…sama…?" Sun-sun begins.

Halibel looks up with her left eye a shade of purple and her right eye beginning to turn purple.

Abandoned Warehouse

"Raven?" Cyborg asks, supporting her small frame as she suddenly buckles. She clutches her head with one hand while the other one is over her left eye. "You ok?" Raven moves her hand and Cyborg sees a green eye. "Yo, Raven! What's up with your eye?"

"I…don't know…I just felt this major pain in my head. What are you talking about? What's wrong with my left eye?" she asks as he looks at it.

"It…was green for a few seconds. But it's back to normal now. Must have been a light trick," Cyborg decides, glancing over to the barrier.

The hollowfied Ichigo cracks and manages to revert back to normal. The barrier is taken down as Ichigo collapses with the mask sliding off a few inches away from him. "So how do you feel…Ichigo?" Shinji asks, standing above him.

"…Ah…not bad…" Ichigo replies, turning his head to Shinji.

"That so?" Shinji asks, smirking at him.

Ichigo grabs his Zanpakutō and says, "Sorry, but…I'm not gonna let you do that…"

Las Noches

Halibel blinks several times as her Fracción stand in front of her nervously. "Halibel…sama…what happened?" Apacci asks, breaking the silence.

"I…see…something…It looks…strange," Halibel replies, vaguely. Her right eye turns purple as she blinks, trying to adjust to the new eyes.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Mila-Rose asks, shakily pointing at the eyes.

Halibel looks straight ahead as her eyes widen without her control. "What…is going on?" she mutters.

_At that moment…_

Abandoned Warehouse

-Raven-

An explosion suddenly rocks the room as Robin flies towards us, screaming. Cyborg manages to somehow catch him as the Vizards turn towards the direction he had fallen through. "Are they already awake?" Lisa asks nervously.

"Love! Get Ichigo somewhere safe! We'll handle those two…" Shinji orders Love, whom immediately picks up Ichigo.

"Wait! Let me fight too!" Ichigo protests.

"No way, you just managed to beat your Hollow. There's no way we're gonna let you fight two Hollowfied kids!" Love argues as they get farther and farther away.

"Yo, Robin! What happened?" Cyborg asks, putting our leader down. He rubs his head and I notice that there are some bruises and his clothes are tattered in some areas.

"They…attacked me. I tried fighting back, but Starfire pushed me all the way down here," he explains, trying to focus his eyes.

I turn towards the hole to see two pairs of glowing green eyes. One of the figures darts towards Cyborg and it turns out to be Starfire. "Starfire!" I yell, making her turn towards me. She grabs my neck in the blink of an eye and starts strangling me. Before I can black out, someone punches Starfire in the face, cracking about half of her mask.

She flies off to one of the rocks nearby as I collapse onto my knees. "You ok?" Kensei asks me, giving me a hand.

"Thanks…" Starfire climbs out as Beast Boy drops down. He turns into a hawk and the mask changes along with him. Starfire's mask begins reforming on her face and I see her sclera pitch black and her irises green, unlike Ichigo's which was completely yellow.

"That's new…" Kensei mutters, gritting his teeth.

"Split up!" Shinji orders. Cyborg and I follow Shinji and Hiyori over to Beast Boy along with Robin. Lisa, Kensei, Rose, Mashiro, and Hachi are left dealing with Starfire.

"Wait, I'll handle Starfire!" I decide, stopping myself and then running back to Starfire. Rose darts past me to catch up to Shinji and the others.

Kensei immediately lunges at him with his dagger. Beast Boy dodges and turns into a cheetah; his mask changing along with him. He speeds towards me faster than he had been before and slams into me. Hachi catches me and I nod my thanks to him. Beast Boy turns into a saber-tooth tiger and tries to tackle Lisa, but I manage to put up a barrier and stop him. He collides with the barrier and transforms back into normal for a moment. He notices Hachi and turns into a copperhead snake, baring his fangs and trying to bite Hachi. Before he can make contact, Mashiro jumps in and kicks him in the face.

He tries to get back up, but Mashiro pins him down. Kensei cracks the mask, but Beast Boy's eyes are the same as Starfire's. The right eye begins turning back to his usual eye color as he groans temporarily as the left eye reverts back to normal. He blinks as he looks around. "Um…why is there a green-haired girl on top of me? And where the heck are we?" he asks, looking towards me. He notices Shinji pointing a sword at Starfire as Hiyori and Cyborg restrains her. "Dude! Are you guys really going to let him kill her? Yo, Cy! Is that still you? Or are you some cl-"

Shinji cracks the mask and Cyborg turns towards Beast Boy. "Just calm down, man. These guys know what they're doing so we don't have to worry," Cyborg explains. Mashiro gets off of him as Starfire's eyes return back to normal. He rubs his neck and straightens his back.

"Dude, did someone kick me in the spine or something? I feel like I was stepped on so many times." Cyborg and Hiyori help Starfire up as she looks around.

"What is going on? Who are all of you people?" she asks, glancing at Shinji and Hiyori. Before they can answer, Cyborg suddenly collapses onto his knees, panting heavily. "Cyborg?"

Beast Boy and I run over as Cyborg starts coughing. "I…I don't feel so good…" I see Shinji and Hiyori with shocked expressions as the rest of the Vizards get tense.

"…You two…" Shinji mumbles, pointing to Starfire and Beast Boy. "You too, traffic light (Robin obviously). Get as far away as possible from him…"

They look at him with confused stares as the familiar white blob emerges out of his mouth. "Cyborg!" Starfire and Beast Boy yell. They run to him, but Robin and I stop them.

"We'll explain later, let's just get out of here for now. Robin and I haven't been hit with that thing and we don't want to risk it. Robin, let's go to wherever Love and that Ichigo is," I suggest. Robin nods and grabs Starfire by her hands. Beast Boy turns into a cheetah and follows Robin and me. We manage to find Love restraining Ichigo.

"Nice timing, you guys! Now help me keep this idiot down!" he grunts as Ichigo struggles.

"Let me out, damn it! I've got to fight them!" He stops when he notices Beast Boy and Starfire staring at him. "Are you guys the same people?"

"They are," Robin interjects, walking to my side. "Cyborg's been afflicted with…whatever that thing is. Shinji told us to get out of here."

Love stands up and looks at us. "Looks like you two are the only ones left…" he mutters. "I'm not sure what the hell Aizen's up to, but it's not good if he's trying to use you guys."

"Who is this Aizen person? Is it the same man that gave me that horrid mask?" Starfire asks, pointing at her face. She touches her face and quickly realizes that it's gone. "What has happened to the mask?"

"Is she always like that?" Love whispers to me as Robin tries to explain the situation to the two.

"She's an alien and hasn't learned how to speak…fluent English. She's getting there, but she's not fluent just yet," I explain. Love nods and flinches momentarily.

"That's some pretty intense reiatsu…" he mumbles looking in the direction of where we had been earlier.

"How did this happen to you guys?" I ask, turning towards him.

"We're not sure ourselves. We think it was 'cuz of that Hōgyoku, but Shinji thinks we were inflicted by some sort of infection. I'm not sure what Aizen did to your friends though…" Love explains.

"Starfire says that she saw a brown-haired man in her room…His hair was pushed back except for one strand of hair and he had some sort of object in his hand."

"Maybe that's how SHE transformed, but I'm not sure how the green kid and the guy in the sweatshirt are turning into Hollows."

"Wait…you guys had a run-in with Aizen?" Ichigo brings up. "She saw him? In her own room?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" I ask him in return. "And unless he's some sort of stalker (Me: WHICH HE IS!), we don't exactly have to worry do we?"

"Uh, well, you guys aren't exactly Shinigami…unless there's something you guys have been hiding from us. I mean, why the hell would someone like him decide to go to America and do this to you guys?" Ichigo argues.

"That reiatsu has subsided…" Love begins. "I'll go check on the situation. I'll let you guys know if it's alright to come out. You two," He points at Starfire and Beast Boy, "Try to keep a short distance from your friends. I don't want them to turn into Hollows too. We just managed to stop Ichigo over there and we've got you two to handle later. Then there's your pal there."

He leaves quickly as Starfire and Beast Boy look at the two of us with frightened expressions. "I don't get it." I turns towards Ichigo. "Why the hell would Aizen want to do this to you guys?"

"How should I know? We've never even met or heard of this guy until what happened to Starfire," I answer.

"Do you mind telling us who this Aizen guy is?" Robin turns towards Ichigo.

"Aizen used to be one of the captains in the Soul Society, but he defected for some reason. Tōshirō told me that Aizen's probably making an army of Arrancars right now. That's why I'm here. I have to train and learn to suppress my Hollow."

"Excuse me, but what is a Hollow and Arrancars?" Starfire asks.

"Hollows are former Pluses that became Hollows because they weren't guided to the Soul Society in time. Arrancars, from what Rukia told me, are Hollows that tore off their masks to have Shinigami powers."

"Are they that strong?" Robin asks, referring to the Arrancars.

"Rukia and Tōshirō told me that those were only Gillians. I think that the one I fought was at least an Adjucha…"

"Did you manage to defeat him?" Ichigo sits down on the ground and looks away with a sad look in his face.

"No…Our fight got interrupted. It's my fault that Rukia almost died. I couldn't even defeat the leader of the group. If there's 9 more of those guys…"

"What do you mean by 9 more?" I ask.

"Tōshirō told me that there are 10 Arrancar that are called Espada. They're the strongest Arrancars and they're the ones that we'll probably struggle with."

"But you've only met one of them right?"

"I think the first two were Espada too. Their reiatsu was about as high as Grimmjow, which was the leader of that band of Arrancar that showed up."

Before we can ask anything else, we see Lisa standing by Beast Boy and Starfire. "We've got him subdued…for now. You guys can come back. But you two stay far away from those three," she commands, referring to Robin and me.

"They're our friends, we're staying with them," Robin replies, walking to Starfire's side.

"Fine, but don't blame us when you start turning into a Hollow. We warned you," she replies, walking away. We follow her in silence until we reach the spot.

"So, you two are going to be staying here until you've got your Hollows under control along with your robot friend," Shinji explains, standing in front of an unconscious Cyborg. "You two birds can choose to stay or leave, but we recommend keeping a distance away from them."

"We're staying with them."

"Alright then. The girl with the red-hair and the green dude will be going with Love and Rose to your new rooms along with that guy earlier. You two will be staying in the same room with Lisa so she can keep an eye on you guys. For now, that's how it'll be. If you two start turning into Hollows too, you better be prepared to fight for your lives against your Inner Hollows…" Robin and I follow Lisa back to our room as Beast Boy and Starfire are lead away by Love and Rose. Hachi manages to bring Cyborg to another room with Mashiro following him. Hiyori and Kensei leave to get dinner while Shinji goes up to the roof.

"Mind if I go to the roof?" I ask her before walking into the room.

"Why not? Not like you can escape or anything…" she replies. I turn around and head up to the roof. Another migraine passes through my head right when I'm halfway up the stairs.

"_What do you mean by seeing something else, Halibel-sama?" Apacci asks, standing in front of Halibel._

"_I just saw those kids that Aizen-sama told us about. Three of them have become Hollows and there are only two left," she explains._

"_What happened afterwards?" Mila-Rose asks._

"_The first two managed to revert back to normal and the third one transformed right afterwards. They escaped while those…Vizards...tried to restrain the third one. Everything's fine now…" she answers, as her purple eyes turns back to her normal green eyes._

"_I still don't get why Aizen-sama wants to use them…" Apacci mutters._

_Before anyone else can say anything, the door to the room explodes into smoke and debris. The three immediately stands in front of the bed as the blonde-haired woman stands up. "Yo, bitch. Heard you collapsed earlier. Heheh, pretty worthless for the Third Espada if you ask me," Nnoitra comments, walking into the room._

"_What do you want, Nnoitra?" the Halibel asks, walking in front of the three. They get tense, but she calms them saying, "Calm down."_

"_Hmph, you wouldn't be sayin' the same thing once I do this!" he swings his axe-like weapon at Apacci. Before the attack can land, Halibel jumps in front and blocks him with her hand. "So you can fight, huh?"_

"_Get out of here, Nnoitra. I heard about what you did to the previous Tercera. You are not going to be doing anything to me or my Fracción." Halibel pushes his sword back as the Fracción regroup by the door. _

"_Apacci, Sun-sun, you guys go and tell Aizen about this. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything dirty."_

"_Alright fine!" Apacci replies, following Sun-sun down the corridor. _

"_Nnoitra, get out of here."_

"_No way in hell, bitch. I'll get rid of you right here and now if you ain't gonna fight me!" He brings his sword down quickly as smoke explodes where Halibel is standing…_

"Hey are you ok?" a voice asks me. I open my eyes to find Shinji standing over me. "I was on my way down when I saw you. What happened?"

"I…it's nothing…" I reply in my monotonous voice, pulling up my hood as I walk down the stairs.

I enter the room to find Lisa cleaning her sword and Robin checking his utility belt. "What's up, Raven? I thought you were going to the roof?" Robin asks, turning towards me.

"I changed my mind," I reply, going to my bed to meditate.

Robin leaves the room saying that he wants to visit Starfire. After he leaves, Lisa brings up, "He sure is a stubborn idiot…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we've told you guys to stay away from them, but he still won't give that up. I guess he values his friends a lot."

"They are our friends. And he's the leader of our team. To him, it's his obligation to do that…" I reply, crossing my legs.

"By the way, are those two in a relationship?"

"Who?"

"That guy and the red-haired girl. He seemed pretty protective of her."

"They started having a relationship about 3 months ago after we came back from Tokyo."

"So you guys were the ones that defeated that Commander wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Robin managed to stop him."

"You know, I still don't get what Aizen plans to do to you guys. If he wanted you guys to become Hollows, then he wouldn't have done this to you guys…"

"It looks like even you guys don't know what Aizen wants to do."

"Course not. We still haven't figured out why he wanted to turn US into Hollows. Shinji thinks it was experimentation on Shinigami. Maybe he was just experimenting on you guys too," she assumes.

"Well…we'll see."

We hear a knock on the door and Shinji walks in. "Hey, Lisa, we're going to be training Ichigo in about an hour or two. So rest up. As for you, I need to ask you something," he says, looking at me. I follow him up to the roof and he looks out for a while before turning back to me. "What happened earlier? Don't bother lying to me."

"I still don't know myself. I just saw this woman with the same hair color like yours fighting someone. She was saying how she saw the entire situation earlier with Cyborg."

Shinji's eyes widen momentarily before asking, "Did…they mention Aizen?"

"I heard them mention Aizen's name a few times. I don't know what happened afterwards. The guy, I think his name was Nnoitra, slammed his sword down on the woman and dust and smoke exploded. After that, I don't know what happened."

"Alright, I'll go ask Ichigo if he knows about them. You and the other guy really should stay away from them. I don't want to handle 5 Hollowfied teenagers. We were already having grief with just one."

"Like Robin said, they're our friends. We stay with them no matter what."

"Hmph, fine then. If that's what you want to say to us every time, it won't be our fault if we have to kill them or even you," Shinji states seriously. He leaves the roof, letting be debate on his words. _"It won't be our fault if we have to kill them or even you."_ After what had happened to Ichigo, they might not even be able to handle all 5 of us. As I begin to wonder my decision, a series of images flash in my mind.

_Something cuts off Tōshirō's right side as he begins falling. _

_Aizen grabs his sword and slices the blonde-haired woman across her abdomen._

_The Vizards scattered around a town with injuries somewhere on their bodies._

_Tōshirō cradles a girl with black hair tied up in a bun as he descends down to the building below._

"What do all of these images mean?" I mutter as one last image goes through my mind.

_The same blond-haired woman on the ground with blood and the black-haired man from earlier standing above her with his weapon…_

**I assure you readers; I am not going to let Halibel die. Because my friend would probably kill me or someone would go all "SAY WHAT?" I mean come on people, she's my favorite Espada. Don't you dare tell me to kill her. I will let May hunt you down.**

**May: Yeah sure, I will…By the way, aren't you forgetting something?**

**Lefty: Um…uh…Imagine if Tōshirō is Halibel's son…Haha, mother vs. son…**

**And uh, again, comments or suggestions are always allowed here. I would have updated a bit sooner, but the dang internet connection at my house is screwed up…once again…Don't know why, but I bet my brother screwed it up somehow…**

**Bye-bye!**


	4. The 4th Vizard

**Chapter 4 is ready! ^^ I apologize for the previous chapter. I rushed the ending goodbye because I wanted to update before the internet connection died on me. And people, I believe Halibel did not show us EVERYTHING she can do! SO, I'M DOING HER POWERS…MY WAY! And I apologize for any coronaries or heart attacks people have, like Wolfie XD**

**Fanamaniac: I couldn't exactly think of anything for BB, but then I thought of how he changes into different animals. So I decided that his mask should change along with him. She can speak it, but she says the phrases differently remember? "Kick the butt", "the mall of shopping", stuff like that. When I saw her kiss that Japanese guy, I completely flipped. I probably won't do Romance...I support RobRae all the way, though! But again, this isn't a romance so I won't make Raven have any jealousy…maybe XD I was saying that because of Tennis practice after school…**

**Ultrawolfie: *opens Urahara's fan and covers mouth with it* Hahaha, I knew someone was going to react like that…It's better than you starting to have purple hair and getting shorter, Halibel…I mean, Raven is about 5'3 or so…**

May**: Wolfie, you gave Lefty a horrible mental image…She's off in the corner shuddering…T_T**

Lefty: ***shudders* **

**Ok so if you guys have anything for Raven's Vizard mask, I'll take you up on the offer. I was thinking about making it this sketch I made, but Kitsura told me that it looks too sad even for Raven. I am tempted to make the mask a combo of Arella (her mother) and Trigon (father)…What do you guys think? Should I have Raven have a mask related to her demonic father…?**

**I thought of Starfire's because of that Bunny Raven episode when she turned into an orange cat. I got Cyborg's mask from a suggestion Kitsura made and I modified it. Beast Boy's took me a while, but I decided that it would change along with him. Robin's is…um…NO SPOILERS XD**

**On with the story! **

Abandoned Warehouse

-Raven-

After the strange images, I turn around immediately and walk down the stairs. The strangest image was that first one. The weapon that had sliced Tōshirō looked like a shark's fin and it came really fast. Why would Aizen want to kill that Arrancar? She's supposed to be on his side…isn't she? Then there's that last image…If she was attacked later by Aizen, then maybe she's still alive? On my way back to the room, I run into Lisa and Robin. "You want to go with us to watch Ichigo train?" Lisa asks me.

"I'll be staying with them," Robin tells me, referring to Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. Lisa glares at him for a minute before turning to me for my answer.

"I'll go watch." She nods and I follow her. Robin goes down another corridor as I follow Lisa down into the underground training room.

"You seemed a bit nervous earlier. What happened? Shinji told me that you saw some Arrancars fighting each other."

"After he left, I got these weird images in my head. I don't know what they mean exactly though."

"Hm, well, it's probably just fatigue. If it keeps happening, you can talk to Hachigen if you want," Lisa suggests.

When we walk in, we see Hiyori kicking Ichigo in the face. He slams into a rock as Hiyori charges towards him. "I told you not release your Hollow form without permission!"

He digs out of the rubble and yells back, "What are you, stupid? I would have been in trouble if I hadn't used it then!"

"Shut up, dumbass!" She kicks him in the chin again. As they argue, I notice Love and Rose sitting on a rock eating.

"Well, they're getting along swimmingly," Rose comments. Love agrees as the two resume their fighting.

Lisa goes to Rose's side to grab a _bentō_. "Come and get one too, Rae," she says, handing another _bentō_ to me. I take it and sit down on the ground, eating the food and watching the two fight.

"Faster, Ichigo! Again!" Hiyori commands.

"Shut up! I know what to do!" He angrily retorts. He puts his hand across his face and pulls his hand back and a mask forms. Hiyori pushes off and kicks him in the arm. "That hurts!"

"Your first move after you put on your mask is too slow! If I finish you on the first attack, it'll be the end!" She finds an opening and kicks him in the chin again.

As Ichigo gets pushed back, his mask suddenly cracks. "Four seconds," Kensei announces, looking at his stopwatch.

"Only?" Shinji asks.

"Hey, how come you guys are making the carrot top kid go through all of this?" Mashiro asks.

"It's practice so that he can maintain his Hollow form for long periods of time," Kensei explains, turning towards Mashiro. "You did it too."

"Oh no, I didn't," she replies.

"What? You liar!"

"No, it's true. Mashiro was able to Hollowfy for over 15 hours from the very start. So, she's the only one that didn't have to go through the training," Shinji reminds him.

"Is that how it was?' Kensei asks, turning back to the fight. "I'd forgotten all about it."

"See, Kensei? You big grouch! You're such a jerk!" Mashiro teases.

"Hey, shut up!" He retorts, turning around.

"Now, now," Hachi begins, trying to calm down Kensei.

"Are they always like that?" I ask Lisa.

"Pretty much," she replies.

Suddenly Hachi turns his head towards the stairs. "What's the matter, Hachi?" Shinji asks calmly.

"There's a problem…Someone just slipped through my force field and entered the building…" he announces.

The Vizards get tense and Love immediately asks, "A Shinigami?" Is it possible that Tōshirō is here already?

"No…the Hachigyousougai I put around this location is a technique that I devised on my own when I became a Vizard," he replies. "It can't be broken by a Shinigami's Kidō."

Kensei stands up and asks, "Then who is it? Are you suggesting that it's another Vizard?"

"I really don't know. The thing that puzzles me the most is that they didn't get in by destroying the barrier. Rather, they just simply slipped right through it. A Vizard certainly wouldn't be able to do something like that, not at all."

"You're right," Kensei agrees. "Then what in the hell is it?"

All of the Vizards turn towards the stairs as a figure approaches. The figure actually turns out to be an orange-haired girl wearing her school uniform. "A…human?" The way they said it sounds like they're not humans. Is it possible they're people like Tōshirō?

"Uh…hi there," she begins nervously. "Excuse me, uh…anyone know where the restroom is? Just kidding, eheheheheh!"

I glance over to the Vizards to see surprised faces as Kensei gets mad. "Say what?"

"She said she was just kidding, Kensei. It's a joke, don't get mad," Lisa explains.

"Well, I wouldn't kid around if I were in her situation," Love brings up.

Ichigo crashes onto the ground again as Hiyori scolds, "What are you doing, Ichigo?"

He curses under his breath and the girl turns towards him. "Ichigo!"

He gets up and says, "Orihime?"

As the two catch up, I walk over to Lisa telling her, "I'll go check on Robin to see if he's ok with them."

"That's fine…" She mutters as she listens intently to Orihime's explanation. As I walk into the room, I hear Starfire talking to Robin.

"Robin, are they trying to break us up too?"

"Of course not. It's because you guys have that strange virus. They're always telling us to stay away, but you guys are our friends. We stay with you guys no matter what."

"But dude, Raven's been keeping a distance away from us," Beast Boy brings up.

"What makes you think that? She cares about you guys too. Besides, that's the type of person remember? Now, I'm going to go down to the training room. I want to see if I can pick anything up from how Ichigo trains," Robin decides. I turn around and quickly head back to the room just in time to run into the Orihime girl from earlier.

"Oh! You were that girl from earlier! My name's Orihime Inoue," she introduces.

"Hi…" I mutter, hoping to get around her.

"Do you know Ichigo and Shinji too?"

"We met Shinji and his team last night. We ran into Ichigo this morning."

"We?"

"My friends," I explain promptly.

"Oh, well see ya…uh…"

"Just call me Raven."

"Ok! Bye, Raven!" With that, she leaves and I walk to the training room.

The minute I step down the stairs, I can hear Kensei yelling. "Huh? What the hell, Shinji? Do you know that girl or something?"

I walk over to them as Shinji explains. "Orihime…was my first love…" He says wistfully.

"Now we can tell you're just lying again…"

"Shinji…you always say that about all the cute girls. You even said that about me once," Lisa says. Is she implying that she's cute…?

Hiyori turns towards us and yells, "All the cute girls, huh? Funny, I don't remember you ever saying that to me!"

"It's 'cuz I **didn't**, snaggletooth," Shinji replies calmly.

"Don't take your eyes off me!" Ichigo exclaims, slamming his sword down. She quickly jumps away and they resume fighting.

"Are you just doing that to irritate her?" I ask Shinji.

He turns towards me and asks, "Weren't you going to go and visit your friends? Or have you finally realized that being near them is suicidal?"

"I was about to, but I changed my mind. It has nothing to do with avoiding them. It's just how I am…"

"If you're more of a loner, then why are you here instead of in a room by yourself?" He argues.

"Because I want to watch Ichigo train. I might be able to pick something up and be able to tell Robin and the others how to fight their Hollows," I reply, remembering what I heard Robin say.

"If you say so…" Shinji mutters, turning back to the training.

A massive pain goes through my mind, reminding me about my inner bond with Robin. "You ok, Raven?" Lisa asks, noticing my expression.

"I…need to go to Robin…" I shakily reply, turning around and running up the stairs. I run as quickly as possible to their room to find Cyborg strangling Robin. Starfire is slumped against the wall and Beast Boy is sprawled out on the ground next to her.

"R…R…av…en…" Robin struggles. Cyborg turns towards me and releases Robin. His mask only covers up the parts that aren't robotic and has the number 27 on the empty white space. By the eyehole are three swipes above them (basically, it's the Phantom of the Opera's mask but redone).

"Help…" There is that familiar echo in his voice. He shakes for a minute before his human eye glows blue like his mechanical parts. He yells and tries to grab me, but I duck in time making him crash into the wall. Robin gasps for breath while crawling over to Starfire and Beast Boy as Cyborg recovers and charges towards me again.

I quickly duck to the side and accidentally trips him, making him fall down on the bed. I regain my footing and make the blankets wrap around him. As he struggles, Lisa runs in with Love right behind her. "So that's what was going on…" I hear her mutter to Love.

"A little help here," I grunt as he continues to try and break out. Love helps me hold him down as Lisa cracks his mask.

The mask immediately cracks and completely disappears. I notice his right eye has black sclera and a blue iris. The two get up as Cyborg rubs his head. "Yo! What'd I miss?" He looks around and spots Robin besides an unconscious Starfire and Beast Boy. "Robin, you ok man?" Both of us come towards him as he starts twitching.

I realize the situation and immediately grab Starfire. "Cyborg, get Beast Boy!" Cyborg grabs Beast Boy as Robin begins convulsing.

"Him too?" Lisa mutters. That familiar white substance bursts out from under his mask and mouth as Love grabs him. "You guys stay here! Raven, stay away from them! You're the last one and we're not risking it! Go somewhere else!" Lisa commands, as the pair leaves. I turn to Cyborg as he tries to wake up the two.

"…I guess I'll have to go…" I mutter.

He nods and with that, I turn around and go back to my room to meditate. The past events have been keeping me from meditating and my emotions are going to explode soon. I **need** to meditate. I enter the room and immediately sit, cross-legged, on my bed. I close my eyes and begin chanting my mantra, "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…" I continue chanting for about 30 minutes before I hear screaming. I open my eyes and look around. I don't see anything as Lisa charges into the room.

"Raven! Get to the underground training room! Your friends are attacking us! You know how to stop them! Come on!" I jump off the bed and follow her down. The first sensation I feel as I enter the room is massive pain in my neck and lungs; then nothing.

Las Noches

"Weak as hell…I knew it," Nnoitra laughs, standing over Halibel's body. He turns towards a shocked Mila-Rose and she charges at him in blind rage with her sword drawn. Nnoitra easily swats her to the side with his hand as Apacci runs into the room.

"Halibel-sama!" Apacci runs to her side as Nnoitra turns away, wearing his trademark grin. Apacci touches Halibel's shoulder and the entire body immediately turns into water. It becomes a puddle as Nnoitra stares at the spot in shock.

He feels the cold metal of Halibel's sword pressed against his neck as she tells him coldly, "Leave…now…" At that moment, Aizen and Sun-sun walk into the room.

"What's going on?" He asks calmly. "Nnoitra, what are you doing?" Halibel steps back and sheathes her sword as Aizen waits for an explanation. Apacci rushes to her master's side as Sun-sun goes over to check on Mila-Rose.

"I was seeing if Halibel was still capable of being the 3rd Espada. I heard that she had collapsed earlier," Nnoitra explains calmly, as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"You bastard! Stop lying!" Apacci interrupts. Aizen and Nnoitra turn towards her, making her immediately close her mouth.

"Why don't we ask Halibel then?" Aizen turns towards Halibel, waiting for her explanation.

"…He wanted to test me out." Apacci and Sun-sun turn towards her with faces of protest as she stares at Aizen.

"I see; I will let this slide…just this once. But if this continues, both of you will be replaced as Espada," Aizen threatens. "Nnoitra, come with me. We have something to discuss…" With that, both of them leave as Apacci attempts to slam the door behind them.

Silence spreads around the room for a few seconds before Halibel speaks up, "How is Mila-Rose?"

"She's still breathing, but she's unconscious. Should we bring her to the medic?" Sun-sun asks.

"If she doesn't improve, we will take her."

"But why did you lie about his motive? You know what happened to Neliel! Why not get him out of the way?"

"And have someone even more worthless replace him? Cirucci might replace him and you know my opinion about her," Halibel replies, helping Sun-sun put Mila-Rose on the bed.

"But still, Aizen-sama could find a better Espada. Cirucci must have done something to get kicked out. Unless Nnoitra did something to her like he did to Nel," Apacci argues.

"Are you saying Halibel-sama's decision is wrong?" Sun-sun begins, turning towards Apacci after setting Mila-Rose down.

"Of course not, but I don't like the fact that Nnoitra can come back and literally stab us in the back."

"Should he do that, then I'll make sure he regrets it…So don't worry, Apacci," Halibel assures her. Apacci glances over to Mila-Rose, daring not to continue the argument. Halibel opens the main door and Apacci turns around. "I'm just going to talk to Starrk. I need to ask him and Lilynette something. I'll be back soon. Our rooms are close by so you don't have to worry, Apacci." With that, she leaves closing the door behind her.

As she walks down the corridor to the left, a figure steps out from the shadows, hiding their reiatsu…

Abandoned Warehouse

Lisa elbows the transformed Robin out of the way before he can choke Raven to death. "Th…thanks…" Raven begins, gasping for breath.

She glances over to her leader and realizes that the mask is just like Red X's. The main difference is that there is another X on the left cheek. He growls for a moment before charging for the nearest person, Lisa. She ducks as Kensei appears out of nowhere and punches Robin directly at the mask, hoping to crack it. Robin stumbles momentarily and reveals that his mask hasn't cracked at all. "That's a pretty strong mask…" Kensei mutters as Raven gets up.

"What's wrong?" she asks, seeing Love and the others managing to subdue Beast Boy and Starfire. Cyborg is on the side unconscious.

"It won't crack. We'll have to try and break it off with our swords. Can you hold him?" Raven nods and concentrates all of her dark energy on Robin. She manages to restrain him as Shinji and Hiyori get closer, but he immediately breaks off. He sets his sights on Raven and swiftly dodges through anyone blocking his way. Right before he can do anything, Raven puts up a barrier and making him collide with it. Raven summons up a clawed fist and swipes at the mask, finally cracking and breaking it.

"Are they ok?" Raven asks, coughing. Robin's attack would have killed her if Lisa hadn't stepped in…

"'Course they are. I still don't know what happened. Cyborg was trying to explain the situation to us when he got hit by Beast Boy," Shinji explains. Robin gets up and looks around.

"What happened…?"

"You hollowfied. We told you to be careful; now the only one that hasn't hollowfied is her," Shinji gestures over to Raven as Cyborg begins getting up. "If this keeps happening, we're going to have to keep a close eye on you guys."

"Why not train them?" Ichigo begins, dragging Beast Boy by his shoes. "You trained me to defeat my Hollow, why not teach them?"

"We will soon. But first, we need to put them on the machine you were running on. We need to know how high their spiritual pressure is. But that'll be tomorrow when everything has hopefully settled down. For now, it's time for you guys to rest. Hachi, didn't you want Hiyori to go get someone?"

"Ah yes. Hiyori…" The two converse as Raven leaves the room with Lisa. Her teammates are lead away by Love and Rose.

"You seem a bit nervous, Raven."

"It's just…I'm the last one that hasn't been hollowfied. And sometimes, I can sense animosity emanating from Shinji. Is it because of us?"

"Probably not. He, like the rest of us, don't want to handle too many. We've been staying away from the Shinigami for a long time. We found out about Ichigo by chance and decided that he'll be helpful in any battles against Aizen. We just want to beat him. This battle between Aizen and us has been going on for about 100 years."

"Wait, then why aren't you guys dead?"

"That's because we already are. We were originally Shinigami, but Aizen made sure we wouldn't be Shinigami any longer with his experimentation..." Lisa trails off. Raven decides not to ask more questions to avoid bringing up bad memories. They reach the door and Raven opens it, but Lisa doesn't go in. "Well, I have first shift of watching your friends. Do whatever you need to do in the room. I'll probably be back in about two hours or so…See ya." She turns around and heads to the room as Raven resumes her meditation.

"Might as well do it. The more meditation, the better…" she mutters to herself, getting onto her bed. About 10 minutes after she began, she hears a voice outside.

"Once I got here, I could more or less feel Ichigo's reiatsu. So, since he's not saying anything, it must be that he's got something in mind. It's good enough. If he's safe…it's good enough. Let's go…Orihime."

"_Ichigo…I'm weak, so it's always like I turn back to you for help. But now, I won't look back and I'll go forward. The next time we meet, I won't look to you for help. Ichigo…I'll be able to fight on my own…"_

"Yeah! Let's go, Rukia!"

**Don't know why, but I felt a bit sappy at the end…Probably listening to JYJ too much…Hahaha…Ah…the things we do for tennis balls…Lol. Let me tell you readers, tennis is very dangerous. Especially when playing with crazy people…or doing tennis-related games with them. You will get hurt. Ok that's enough of that.**

**May: Anything else to add?**

**Lefty: Not much except…who agrees with my belief about sports: "If you don't like the sport, then don't take it. You'll just drag down everyone else." This belief is what I've been saying to a lot of people ever since SHE said she doesn't like tennis**

**May: …Such animosity…for just one girl.**

**Lefty: My animosity spreads to everyone I hate. **

**May: Haha, you didn't vote for Class President.**

**Lefty: And? Why should I waste my time for something like that?**

**May: Such beliefs…**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Left Out?

**Season for Tennis has begun and my teammates will be playing more games. More time for me to do homework ^^ Jk, I actually watch them…especially Varsity. They're really good and I want to see those three pronate…I'll get my chance. Sorry about taking a bit longer...Too much homework and I had Writer's Block with the beginning.**

**Ultrawolfie: It's basically Steal the Bacon…with a ball…Two people had a collision and my partner "sacrificed" her body to get the ball away from me…And when we're practicing, if you're not careful, you'll get smacked in the face, nose, eyes, etc…Such a dangerous sport T_T But I still love it! If I can, I'll be throwing in hints about any relationships I can. Even Yoruichi/Soi Fon…Haha If you've watched Naruto, you know about the water clones. And most of Halibel's powers haven't been shown to us…Actually, there's one thing I'm confused about. If Aizen's sword is a WATER-based Zanpakutō, how did Halibel miss the fact that it was a fake Aizen…? Ah well, at least she's alive! ^^**

**Fanamaniac: My tolerance for people is ****slowly**** increasing. Right now, really bad people can piss me off easily. Especially if they don't listen to instructions and stuff…Like that girl DX I don't wanna do "Kurosaki-kun" and "Inoue-san" or whatever. Well I do have honorifics, but I forgot about those two…Plus, I'm more of a first name person. Except for one person, whom I call Otsuka instead of his first name. The number indicates…the number he had when he was a football player. There was all that white space there and I thought that I should fill it in. I asked Kitsura her favorite numbers. And I chose 27 for that space. Lol, Raven MEANT to do that XD Oho…that stalker is not going to attack Halibel… That's all I'm going to say because it will be explained. **

**And uh…anyone need me to explain the backstory of any of the Titans? I can do all but Terra… **

May:** And we don't know how Ulquiorra addresses Halibel so Lefty's going to do it how she thinks he would be…And warning…this is where Lisa argues about her…being perverted…or as she said "curiosity"…**

**Anyways, ON WITH THE STORY!**

One Month Later

Ulquiorra and Yammy walk together down the hallway after Yammy's arm was patched up. "So Nnoitra gets to stay in the Espada ranks even after that last scuffle with Halibel, huh?" Yammy mutters.

"He says that he was trying to test her. Aizen-sama must have known his real intentions, but he chose not to do anything."

"Tch, I bet Aizen knows the deal with the previous Tercera too. That bastard Nnoitra…" Yammy mutters.

"Oh please, at least she wasn't killed." Yammy mutters something and Ulquiorra scoffs, walking towards the door. "This is Ulquiorra. Permission to enter."

The door swings open and Aizen turns towards them with a smirk plastered on his face. "Welcome…Ulquiorra…and Yammy." Aizen and a man with short black hair (yes that is a man…) are looking at the pair as they enter. Halibel is sitting on one of the blocks looking down on Aizen and his mysterious figure. Nnoitra is standing right below Halibel's seat and looking at the pair along with the other three figures. "It won't be long now," he states, dropping the Hōgyoku into a box.

"What is the status of the Hōgyoku?" Ulquiorra asks as the door closes behind them.

"50 percent…It is going to awaken…exactly when the Soul Society expects it to. But…there's a secret. A secret that only those who have possessed the Hōgyoku are aware of. I have my doubts that even Kisuke Urahara, the man who originally developed it, has the slightest clue about this unusual secret. When the Hōgyoku in its dormant state with its seal removed combines with someone who possesses twice the reiatsu of a captain…for a very short time…its full power is suddenly released as if the Hōgyoku were completely awakened once again," he explains as a flash of light emits from the Hōgyoku. The glass around the figure cracks and they support themselves with their scrawny hands. "Can you tell me your name…new comrade?"

The boy in front of them has blonde hair and his Hollow mask is a three-point tiara on top of his head. "Wonderweiss…Wonderweiss…Margela."

Aizen turns towards Ulquiorra, asking, "Do you remember the order I gave you approximately one month ago?"

"Yes."

"It is time to carry it out…I will even give you a choice and take whomever you like with you."

"Thank you, sir…" Ulquiorra replies emotionlessly. Aizen begins walking towards the stairs opposite of the door before stopping by one of the pedestals.

"Oh…by the way, would you like to go as well…Grimmjow?" Aizen turns towards the teal-haired Arrancar as he looks forward emotionlessly. Before Aizen leaves, he begins, "Oh…and don't fight again…Nnoitra…Halibel…"

As he walks away, Nnoitra frowns and walks past Yammy and Ulquiorra angrily. On her pedestal, Halibel closes her eyes in thought and descends. She walks off into the shadows, heading to her room.

Abandoned Warehouse

-Raven-

It's been about a month since Robin had become a Hollow. After that, the Vizards have been trying to keep us away as much as possible. About a week after his Hollowfication, Shinji began training the four of them on Hiyori's machine. Robin was the first one to control his Hollowfication and Cyborg managed to do it without any of the training. Beast Boy had taken about 61 minutes about two days ago. Starfire will begin her training starting tomorrow. Lisa and Kensei would always keep a close eye on me to make sure I don't become a Hollow as well. "It's for your own good," Kensei had told me.

Meanwhile, Hiyori just kicked Ichigo in the face and Love mutters something. "You're already dead…" As Ichigo tumbles across the training ground, he continues. "Whoa, that's such a deep line, isn't it? Here he's telling me these guys are dead, but they don't even have enough sense to realize it yet." He then makes a pose that's probably what he had read. "Don't you realize it yet? You are alive; alive, yet you are already dead. You get me?"

Rose turns towards him and argues, "That's the fifth time you've quoted that. I'm so sick of you, Love! And will you please stop reading all of my manga before I get the chance? You keep spoiling everything for me!"

"Why don't you put up a fight, you stupid idiot? You have any idea how many times I could have killed you already?" Hiyori yells at Ichigo, making me turn back towards their training. After a month, Ichigo has barely improved. Robin and Cyborg can hold their masks for at least 3 minutes while he only has gotten to about 10 seconds.

Before Ichigo can fight back, Kensei bangs a pan with his ladle together announcing, "Chow time! Get your asses hear on the double! Last one to finish is washing the dishes! Ya hear me?"

The five of us get up from our separate sides and walk quickly to the area. I try to walk over to Starfire, but Lisa quickly intercepts me, keeping me away from them once again. After about 30 minutes of eating, Ichigo turns out to be the last one. He puts on the apron and starts washing the dishes. As the Vizards begin cleaning up, Shinji asks Hiyori, "So, how's Ichigo's training going, Hiyori?"

"Weren't you watching? It's not going anywhere! The idiot's still only up to a little over 10 seconds! That dumbass is a joke. Real dog meat!" She insults as he venomously continues.

"Maybe he doesn't have what it takes. Maybe he should just give up," Lisa begins in a mocking tone. He turns around with a plate in his hand angrily.

"Shut the hell up, you little pervert! You're not even involved in my training so I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your mouth shut!" He retorts.

"I'm already involved, moron! I lent you my magazines to get your mind of training the other day!" I see Beast Boy shift nervously. I had caught him reading one of those…magazines and trying to stop a massive nosebleed from killing him.

"You didn't lend me anything!" He venomously yells. "Why the hell would I want to borrow that crap anyway?"

"It's totally cool. I borrow it myself…every couple of days or so," Love interrupts, trying to reassure Ichigo.

"I'm not like you, am I?" He mutters, his face getting redder and redder.

"Personally, I like to look at them twice a day to clear my mind," she continues, adding more fuel to the flames.

"Yeah I know! Good for you! But I'm not like either of you! Those pictures are distracting, pervert!" He responds angrily.

"But I am not a pervert! I'm just very curious, that's all!" she replies as Kensei walks by with a cup and toothbrush in hand.

"Isn't that the definition of a pervert? Huh?"

"That doesn't stop you from constantly looking at my magazines!"

"I do not…" Kensei denies as Beast Boy looks off to another direction. I see Shinji debating over something as Ichigo and the three argue. Starfire grabs Robin's hand nervously and I look away, trying to ignore it. Cyborg left after he finished eating, saying he needed to recharge his batteries. During the month of being here in Japan, Tōshirō has not contacted me since the first day we ran into the Vizards. This whole month, I've been doing nothing but watching my friends train. I'm the only one that hasn't become a Vizard…

Elsewhere in Karakura Town

"! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Break! Break! Break! Break! Break! Take this and this! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Yumichika slams his sword against the rock until Rangiku, fed up with his yelling, chucks her shoe at him.

"Shut up! What is wrong with you anyways, Yumichika?"

He recovers and rants, "My Fuji-Kujaku is totally ticking me off! He's such an obnoxious snob! He's bossy and he thinks he's the best looking guy in the world! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! I can never fight next to him again! In fact, if he were the last sword in the world, you couldn't pay me to fight alongside this jerk! Not ever! Even if he BEGGED me!"

Rangiku stares at him before replying, "What are you talking about? He's exactly like you." Yumichika growls angrily as Rangiku complains about her Zanpakutō with her eyes closed. "Now my Haineko is a stupid, needy, selfish, temperamental, lazy, and moody slob. And when you boil it down to basics, the total opposite of my personality…"

"Yeah, well I think that's you to a T. I bet you're the kind of person who whenever she looks at a picture of herself will say, 'Oh look at me, I am **so** fat,'" Yumichika insults, making her eyes pop open.

"What did you say, Yumichika? I dare you to say that to me again!" As the two begin to squabble, Tōshirō angrily growls before yelling at them.

"Will you two just shut the hell up and concentrate? Or I'll send you back to the Soul Society!" He threatens, and they immediately quiet down. He turns back to his Zanpakutō and mutters, "Honestly…can't they talk to their Zanpakutō more quietly?"

Ikkaku, on a rock adjacent to Tōshirō's, continues to talk to his sword quietly. He opens his eyes slowly and looks up to the sky, staring intently at the clouds. "The clouds…are moving…" He mutters as Tōshirō opens his eyes.

"I'm sorry; did you say something, Ikkaku?"

"Never mind…forget it; it's nothing…" A few seconds later, the sky begins shifting strangely. The four of them look up as the sky opens up ominously. Yammy, Grimmjow, Wonderweiss, and the black-haired man appear out from behind the Garganta.

"Arrancars? Already? They're a little early, aren't they?" Yumichika asks, dumbfounded by their appearance.

"Yes, they're definitely early…But there's no time for us to sit around and figure out why," Tōshirō replies.

At the Garganta, Yammy is looking down on the four Shinigami with a malicious grin on his face. "Oh, it looks like we picked a good spot to show up! There's some guys with pretty high spiritual pressures down there. Wanna start with them?"

"Take a good long look. Those are Shinigami, Yammy. I wonder what they're doing here. Maybe they're reinforcements from the Soul Society that Mr. 6 told us about," the man states, looking down. He turns towards Grimmjow, smirking knowingly and asks, "Right? Oh, sorry…of course, I mean the **former** 6."

Grimmjow stares at him calmly and replies, "The guy that I'm looking to kill…he's not even down there with them." He turns to the right and darts away from the Garganta as Yammy protests.

After a quick discussion, Yammy leaps down and confronts Tōshirō. "Captain of Squad 10, Tōshirō Hitsugaya," he introduces, trying to find an opening in Yammy's defense.

"That's quite a coincidence. I'm also a 10. Arrancar 10, better known as Yammy!" Yammy responds, smiling.

"You're number 10? Then that means you're an Espada," Tōshirō realizes.

"Yeah, you seem to know about us. It seems that you've been fighting with somebody who obviously has a big mouth."

Meanwhile, Yumichika and Ikkaku face against the man. "So I take it that you're an Espada too?" Yumichika asks.

"That's right. My name is Luppi. I'm ranked number 6," he replies, revealing his tattoo.

Wonderweiss is crouching down, looking at two birds flying around in a circle. As they fly away, he just stares at them saying "Ah…" continuously.

"Can I…Can I cut that one…?" Rangiku asks, unsure about attacking Wonderweiss.

Abandoned Warehouse

-Raven-

Ichigo is struggling as Kensei and Love hold him back. "Let go of me!"

"No, you're not ready yet!" Kensei argues.

"This is exactly why your friends from the Soul Society are stationed here. So why don't you let them handle it?" Love explains. Ichigo had sensed something, causing him to abruptly stop in his training and try to charge out. Kensei and Love had noticed and stopped him in time. Beast Boy and Robin are standing up, not knowing what to do. Starfire had flown up to Cyborg to tell him about the situation. Lisa and I are standing there, hoping Ichigo would realize that he needs to stop.

"Well this just happens to be exactly what I've been training for! Look, this is now or never for me!" He argues.

Shinji grabs Kensei's tank top by his right shoulder and commands, "Just let him go…" The two release him and he immediately charges up the stairs.

"Shinji, let me go with him," I demand, surprising everyone except Shinji.

"And why's that?"

"We were supposed to get a response from Tōshirō a while ago. And if these Arrancars are here, then that means Tōshirō and the others will be having trouble," I explain.

"Fine…go. But your friends stay here," he explains, firmly. I glance over to Robin and he nods reluctantly. I form a black disc at my feet for teleportation. I come out of the roof and almost collapse because of the reiatsu in the air. I look up to find Ichigo confronting a teal-haired person.

"Hey, I've been looking for you, Shinigami," he roughly states.

"And I've been waiting for you. It's taken me some time…but now I'm ready to show you what I've learned since the last time we've met!" Before the reiatsu can increase and stop me from moving, I quickly fly off towards the direction the teal-haired man had come from. If the Arrancars are here, then Tōshirō will most likely be fighting them.

I reach them right as Tōshirō yells, "I won't let you! Bankai!" Ice begins forming around him as he declares, "Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

But before he can reach the opponent, I hear him say, "Strangle…Trepadora…" Smoke envelopes the man and after a few seconds, Tōshirō gets pushed back by a tentacle. The smoke clears and he asks, "Would you be able to stop it if it were 8 times stronger?"

Tōshirō and the other Shinigami notice me. The busty woman immediately shows up in front of me and asks, "Who are you?"

"Leave her, Matsumoto. She's going to help us fight the Arrancars…right?" He turns towards me and I nod. "Sorry about not looking for you the past month; we had to train to fight these guys." Our conversation is cut short as one of the tentacles dart towards him again. I put up a shield to protect him and his opponent looks at it incredulously.

"Who the hell are you, you witch?"

"Oi, Luppi! Aizen didn't tell ya? She's a part of that team he's using!" A large man to the side explains to Luppi.

"So you're the one that's linked up with Halibel…" Luppi mutters, making one of his tentacles shoot towards me. I duck and the tentacle barely misses the woman. As we regain our footing, Luppi uses all of his tentacles to smash into Tōshirō, making him fall down onto the ground. "See? 5 against one would have been much better odds…Oh…I'm sorry…I meant…5 against 8…" The tentacles rotate around and hit the three Shinigami. I barely manage to block, but it still grazes my arm. As for them, blood is dripping from their head and arm. "Man, you guys are too pathetic even for words. Are you sure you're really seated officers in the Gotei 13? And what about you? You're supposed to be the strongest of the 5; and yet, you're struggling with me. How lame!"

The three get tense and the bald one growls, "You bastard." The three of them charge before I can stop them. I notice two other Arrancars to the side, but the tentacle grabs me before I can go to them. It grabs the woman and the man with the feathers. "Rangiku! Yumichika!" The tentacle grabs him before he can do anything. "Damnit! Let go of me!"

"Couldn't you be any more repulsive?" Yumichika yells, struggling.

Luppi sets his sights on the two of us and asks, "What if I were to punch those bodies of yours full of holes?" Before the spikes can stab us, a crimson razor slices the tentacles freeing the two of us.

"Well, looks like I made it just in time," a new voice begins, walking towards us from the forest. "That was certainly close, wasn't it?"

"Who are you? Why are you interrupting?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't have time to properly introduce myself. The name's Kisuke Urahara. I own a small candy store in the neighborhood. Perhaps you've heard of it? Anyway, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Before he can say anything else or attack, the blond-haired Arrancar appears behind Kisuke without so much as a warning. Kisuke attacks the Arrancar with his sword and tells Luppi, "Uh…don't take this the wrong way, but your friend seems a little odd."

"Ah…" The Arrancar's left hand starts having red energy forming and it shoots at Kisuke, sending up a plume of dust and sand.

Before I can go help him, the tentacle wraps around the two of us again. Suddenly, he gets shot by a red ball of energy. "Wahahahaha! I'll tell you what it was! It's called a Bala! A Bala is a projectile of reiatsu. It's not as strong as a Cero, but it's 20 times faster!" The large Arrancar shoots a barrage of "Bala" as he'd called it to where Kisuke's body is falling.

"My, my. When someone gets in my way, they die. **I** wanted to kill the guy in the hat, but Yammy is…Whatever the case, he's not alive now." He turns towards us with a smirk and continues, "Well, such is life. It's time we return to the task at hand. Don't you agree?"

I concentrate my energy and mutter, "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos!" The black energy constricts the tentacles wrapped around the four of us and I forcefully remove the tentacles away from us.

"You witch!" Luppi focuses all of his tentacles towards my direction. "Go to hell!" The tentacles lunge at me, but they never make contact. "What the hell?" Luppi realizes that someone has frozen his tentacles.

Tōshirō ascends and explains, "For only getting one hit off on your opponent, you're way too relaxed. Haven't you ever heard of following through?"

"You're still alive?" Luppi asks, confused by the situation.

"Hyōrinmaru is the most powerful ice-based Zanpakutō. As long as there is water nearby, it can repair itself no matter how many times it's broken apart. There's no way you can win now. I've had all the time in the world to set this up…" Tōshirō raises his sword as multiple ice pillars form from the ground. "You left me alone for way too long. Your weapon may have eight arms, but mine is all the water in the atmosphere. Sennen Hyōrō." The ice closes in on Luppi and traps him. "Sorry, looks like eight wasn't enough…"

Tōshirō turns towards the woman and she asks, "Who is she?"

"She's someone from America. What are you doing here?" Tōshirō asks. "Are you looking for someone?"

"My friends started Hollowfying and some people called Vizards decided to help us. We ran into Ichigo the following day," I explain, pulling my hood down so they can see my face.

"How's Ichigo doing? Rukia told us that he's probably improving, but we don't know what he's doing exactly," Tōshirō asks.

"He's improved only a bit. My friends have improved a lot more than him, though. I only came out because Ichigo felt some of the Arrancars' reiatsu. I followed him out, but my friends couldn't leave. And who's…Aizen…exactly? Ichigo told me that he was someone that defected from the Gotei 13, but I'm not sure what that means exactly."

"Sōsuke Aizen betrayed the Gotei 13 along with two other captains. They are working with these Arrancars and the main reason why we are training as hard as we can at the moment. How do you know Aizen?"

"He was the one that made my friends Hollowfy. I haven't Hollowfied yet, but I have a feeling I will soon. None of the Vizards know why he did that though."

"Are you saying Aizen's using you guys?" The bald man begins.

"I'm not sure. My team and I don't know him and he seems to know us a lot more than we think."

Before our conversation can continue, a yellow beam comes out of the sky and encloses the three Arrancars. "Negación!" Rangiku explains.

"Pity…Captain-san. You failed to kill me," Luppi taunts, the ice breaking off of him. As the three ascend he points at Tōshirō and continues, "Don't you dare forget me. The next time we meet, I'll tear off your puny head and crush it, without fail!" They enter the strange opening and the sky closes.

"Things are going to get harder from here on…" Tōshirō tells us.

"Damn!" The bald man mutters.

"What an ugly ending," Yumichika comments.

"_It's over…Your luck has run out…The sun has already set into the palm of our hands."_ The voice surprises me, but when I look at the four Shinigami, it doesn't sound like them.

"…I should be getting back," I mutter, pulling up my hood.

Tōshirō turns towards me and nods. "Watch out for Aizen…" With that, I fly back to the warehouse. About a block away, I see Ichigo being supported by Shinji and another Shinigami.

I descend in front of them and the Shinigami is surprised by my presence. "Who are you? Are you an Espada?" She questions.

"She isn't," Shinji explains. "She's someone that's been training with us. That's all you need to know…"

"Raven…you were watching?" Ichigo asks.

"No, I was somewhere else," I reply, flying up. "Shinji, can I see my friends?"

"What do you think? We're not letting you become a Hollow too. As you can see, just one Vizard is a hassle. Imagine if we had five more." I turn away sullenly, and fly back to the warehouse. I see Lisa by the entrance.

"Done with your business?" Lisa asks, standing up. I nod and she turns her back towards me. "Ichigo's injured isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll go get Hachi. Don't go to your friends," she reminds me, walking in. I fly up to the roof to meditate and I sense an Arrancar's reiatsu. I look around, but I don't see anyone.

"Raven…" A voice mutters. I turn around and a fist punches me in the stomach, making me double over in pain. "Sorry…but Aizen-sama wants me to bring you back to Las Noches…" I look up just as the butt of the sword hits me in the head. …What's going on…?

_As Raven collapses, the figure sheathes her sword. Picking Raven up, the Arrancar opens up a Garganta and enters it. Both of them disappear behind the Garganta as it closes…_

* * *

><p><strong>Mwahaha, I'm pretty sure you guys know who the "mysterious figure" is :P By the way, the girl that I hate got in trouble on Friday (September 30). She was supposed to be on a week-long of no conditioning because she had a "head injury" from the collision. The FroshSoph team caught her multiple times throughout the week and we told our Coach about it. They had a talk and she went to go sit down. Boo-yah! She got in trouble!**

**May: You and V- hate her so much…**

**Lefty: 'Course I do. She doesn't give a shit about trying. "The main difference between one of the other Tennis teams and her is that they try and don't fake head injury like her."**

**May: Quoting your friend…Imagine if some girls on the team were reading this story and realize who the author to this story is…**

**Lefty: *sweatdrops* Yeah like they have time…**

**May: …Point.**

**Any comments and suggestions? Oh and I have decided that I will be doing this story without a beta reader. Kitsura has been way too busy so I told her that I can do this one on my own. So yeah, no one will be touching this story, but May and me. Remember, NO FLAMES! **

**May: Unless you have armor stronger than Erza's Adamantine Armor to defend yourself…**

**Lefty: Anyone read the latest Fairy Tail? THEY HAD BETTER BE ALIVE! *ahem* Ja ne~~~ **


	6. Forbidden Rescue!

**I would have updated earlier, honest, but today is what Starfire calls, "****Day of birth****" for me. If you can't figure that out, let me know. So then, I can use my new racket to smack some sense into you so you'll understand Starfire lingo. I may have promised my friend I wouldn't anything to the new racket, but she'll probably understand~It's also May's "Day of birth" as well~ And disregard that little "****Tell me~No~" thing…My friend was with me and I typed tell me~ and she said no~…And it continued on like that XD **

**The increase in words is probably just this chapter because I just kept adding on…and on…and on…and on XD Who knows, it might be about this long again sometime in the future. I don't even know how many chapters I have left, so my dear readers, you have nothing to worry about~**

**Fanamaniac: Officially an adult now, but still a child at heart eh? It is against my customs to spoil the story to people…That is how most people do it XD Well Shinji had to step in and help Ichigo. He and the rest of the Vizards were only planning to help only BB and Star, but then Robin and Cy became Vizards. And they don't want to deal with another one, since BB took 61 minutes to beat up his Hollow. I did skip to one month later so I just HAD to put it in. It's hilarious alright ROFL Romance is the one thing I suck at. I can probably do fluffy stuff, but that's probably it…My best bet is Angst. Definitely Angst XD Keep up with A Chocolate Treat! It was funny throughout and that little bit with Shiro was so cuuuutteeee and sad X3 I DIDN'T MISS THE LESSON HE LEARNED! XD**

**Ultrawolfie: At least you guys won :3 Are you like the best chess player in your team? He's just tricking them, huh? Such an ass…grrrrrrrrrr…What you said about the body party turning into water and then solidifying reminds me of Juvia a lot. *sniffles* *sniffles* *holds back tears***

May: **-_- Not a good idea to tell her…**

Tayuya: **T_T Yeah…**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach and/or Teen Titans, I would definitely mash it up and make the storyline like this. Mwahahaha ^^ ;) So for those clueless people, I do NOT own Bleach or Teen Titans (I would love to if I could XD)**

**Warning: THERE ARE SPOILERS, THERE ARE CURSING, THERE ARE WEIRD COMMENTS COMING FROM ME! EXPECT NO LESS FROM THE CRAZY PERSON KNOWN AS LEFTY~**

**Anyways, *ahem*, ON WITH THE STORY~ **

_Recap anyone?_

_The Teen Titans have been targeted by Aizen for his own malicious ideas and all members but Raven have become Vizards. They met Ichigo, Toshiro, and the Vizards themselves over the events that occurred. Raven has not become a Vizard and is beginning to feel left out. Now, she has been kidnapped by the Tercera Espada, Tia Halibel and is being brought back to Hueco Mundo. Orihime has also been targeted by Aizen and Ulquiorra has managed to make her come willingly. _

Orihime's Apartment: Close to Midnight

"For laundry, the towels go in the right corner of the dresser. Put clean towels in the bottom and stack them. Make sure to put the burnable garbage out before 8:00 A.M. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Otherwise, they won't pick it up. You can wrap up your leftovers in foil and leave it in the fridge. Okay! That's about everything…" Orihime decides, ticking off the needed information. "Rangiku-san and Tōshirō-kun are helpless on their own. She gazes at the bracelet Ulquiorra had given her and remembers what he had told her.

"_Take this. While wearing that, a special type of spiritual barrier will surround you. Only we Arrancar will be aware of your presence. At the same time, you will be able to pass through physical objects as you desire. Wear it and __**don't **__take it off," he commanded as Orihime sadly looked at the bracelet. "I will give you twelve hours." He opened up a Garganta and as he entered it, he explained, "I give you permission to say farewell to one person during that time frame. However, if the person realizes what you are doing, then you will have disobeyed my orders. We will meet at midnight…" The Garganta closed and Orihime went back to healing the injured Shinigami._

She writes something else at the bottom of the notebook and stands up, turning off the lamp. She opens the door to her apartment and leaves, closing the door.

Urahara Shop: Underground

"That hurts!" Ikkaku yells, trying to push back Tessai. "I said you can stop! Back off!"

"I can't do that!" Tessai replies.

"Shut up! Listen here, these bandages are way too-!" Before he can finish, Ururu grabs him by his neck.

"Don't let him go, Ururu-dono! We'll finish bandaging him up like that!"

"Stop it! Ikkaku! Damn it! Let go of Ikkaku!" Yumichika protests, struggling against his bandages.

"The injured needs to rest, Yumichika-dono," Tessai replies calmly. As the two "injured" try to resist being bandaged, Tōshirō is standing off to the side watching them.

"Jeez…they get so worked up no matter where they are." He looks up to Kisuke, whom is staring out at the situation with an unreadable face. _"Urahara Kisuke. He's a man I hardly know a thing about. He's been thinking about something ever since the Arrancar vanished. Either way, for having fought so many Espada, we're lucky that this was all the damage we took. We were careless. They've already finished their preparations. We've got to work harder on our own preparations for the next battle. But, just how long will it take before we're fully prepared?" _He turns towards Rangiku and asks, "Matsumoto, have you been able to contact the Soul Society yet?"

"Well…" She shows him the phone and static emits from it.

Ichigo's House

Static is also emitting from Rukia's cell phone. She is sitting by his desk and decides to stop trying to connect. She hangs up and mutters, "Strange…It won't connect to Orihime in Soul Society. Maybe there's some sort of spectral interference." She glances over to Ichigo and remembers what had happened when she and Shinji brought him to that warehouse.

"_This is the best I can do," Hachi had said to her, laying him down on the ground. "My ability isn't exactly healing, but a type of time-reversal. In order to use the technique correctly, I must have precise knowledge of what to reverse. Right now, Ichigo-kun's reiatsu and the reiatsu absorbed from the Arrancar's attacks have melded together in his wounds. In his current condition, this is the best I can do…In order to get him through this as quickly as possible, it's important that we separate him from people like ourselves, who have similar reiatsu to Hollows. Please take him home and let him rest…" Rukia had been looking at the people behind her. Shinji was standing next to the girl that had taken Orihime here last month. _

"Ichigo…just what are they? What kind of power are you trying to obtain? Why did the Arrancar retreat in the middle of the fight? Who was that girl with the cloak? There are so many things I don't understand…At any rate, I have to go check Orihime's house," she decides, getting up.

Suddenly, she hears two voices outside of his door. She opens it to find Yuzu and Karin with a plate of food. "U…um…Is it ok if we eat dinner here?" Yuzu asks Rukia, holding up the plate of eggs and lettuce with a glass of milk to the side. (*drools* Mmmm…food…)

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure that would make Ichigo happy." After they finish, Rukia leaves and his two sisters are sleeping on the ground.

The curtains begin flapping a bit because of the wind. Abruptly, Orihime's body slips into Ichigo's room. "I made it…I'm actually here…" She looks around the room and notices Ichigo's sisters on the ground. "You see…Ichigo…I came to say goodbye. To tell you the truth, I wanted to say goodbye to a lot of other people. Like Chad, Rukia, Tatsuki…" She bends down towards his face and grips his arm as she gets closer. Before they kiss, Orihime pulls back with tears in her eyes. "I can't…I guess I really can't…" The tears splash onto Ichigo's face and she wipes the tears away. She leans against the window and continues, "You know…there were a lot of things I wanted to do. I wanted to become a teacher, and an astronaut, and a baker…I wanted to go to a bunch of different donut shops and ask for one of everything! And I wanted to tell the ice cream man 'I want one of everything' too! I wish I could have five lives!" Then she begins counting off what she could do if she did. "Then I could have been born in five different towns, eat five lifetime's worth of food, and have five different careers." She puts her hands down and looks at Ichigo with a calm smile on her face. "And…fall in love with the same person…five times. Arigato…Kurosaki-kun…Sayonara…"

Meanwhile, in her room, the words, "Goodbye…Halcyon Days…" are shown at the bottom of her notebook.

(Oh the sappiness of it all…)

Hueco Mundo

A Garganta opens up a few ways away from Las Noches. Halibel walks out, carrying a girl with a blue cloak under her arm. Halibel begins walking across the sandy terrain of Hueco Mundo before stopping abruptly, sensing her Fracción's reiatsu. Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-sun land on the sand in front of her and look at Raven. "How was the retrieval, Halibel-sama?" Sun-sun asks, covering her mouth again.

"There was no one around so I doubt anyone suspected anything. I suppressed my reiatsu as much as possible, but she could still sense it."

"Why the hell does Aizen want this girl and that Orihime woman?" Apache mutters, glaring at Raven.

"We shouldn't question Aizen-sama…It's because of him that we're still here, right?" Sun-sun argues. Apache glances away, remembering that encounter with the Arrancar when they were still Hollows. If Aizen hadn't stepped in, all four of them would have been killed.

"Tch…" Halibel begins walking ahead of them and Apache asks, "Do you want us to carry her, Halibel-sama?"

"It's fine." She walks ahead of them and they follow her quietly. Halibel opens the gate and they enter the hallway. The four of them walk down the hallway, but they run into Nnoitra. The three Fracción get tense as Halibel continues walking past him. They follow her cautiously, glancing at Nnoitra to make sure he doesn't do anything.

He stops for a moment and turns towards the four. "The strongest of those five brats, huh? Doesn't look so strong to me. I wonder what the hell Aizen plans to do. Hah! I bet she wouldn't last a freaking minute against even Yammy!" he insults.

"Watch what you say, Nnoitra…You could regret it," Halibel retorts, walking further away. Her Fracción walk by her side, with Apache glancing back at Nnoitra.

"Bitch…" He mutters, walking ahead.

"We'll put her in a room close to ours until she regains consciousness," Halibel tells her Fracción, stopping in front of a door. "We'll each take turns to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't escape. Understand?"

"Yes," they reply. Halibel opens the door and she puts Raven down on the bed. She tells them to go rest as she'll take the first watch. They close the door reluctantly and Halibel sits down on the sofa and glances out to the window.

Raven's eyelids flutter open before closing again. _"What does Aizen want with me…?"_ She wonders as she falls back into unconsciousness.

Morning: Abandoned Warehouse

"You still can't find her?" Robin pesters Shinji, whom is lying down on the sofa.

"We already told you; she said she was going back here. Lisa saw her fly up onto the roof and after that, she just disappears. Do you honestly think we know where she is?" Shinji argues.

"You guys should know! If you didn't keep us away so many times, then she wouldn't have disappeared!" Robin retorts, resisting the urge to pull out his Bo staff right then and there.

"Why don't you guys go look for her then? If she's so special, then get the hell out of here and give us some peace and quiet!" Hiyori butts in, glaring at the four Titans.

"Let's just go, Robin. They're not going to help us," Beast Boy mutters.

"Fine…" Robin turns his back towards the Vizards. "Let's go team…And Shinji…thanks for everything…" He and the three follow him as Shinji stares at the team with an unreadable expression. They wander around for a moment before they run into Ichigo. "Ichigo! Where have you been?"

Ichigo and Tōshirō turn towards the four and Ichigo glances at Tōshirō. "They're people I know," he explains.

"They don't look like they're from around here…"

"We came from San Francisco," Robin replies.

"Do you know Raven?" Tōshirō asks, remembering his encounter with the blue-caped teenager.

"She's our friend. Do you know where she is?" Robin asks, looking at the pair.

"No, but we might have some information. Come with us. It's urgent," Tōshirō answers. The two Shinigami dart ahead and the Titans follow. They reach an apartment building and Tōshirō opens the door to one of them. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

The six of them enter the room. The five Shinigami in the room turn towards them and see Robin and his team. "Who the hell are they?" Ikkaku asks, glaring at them.

"They know Raven, the one who helped us fight the Arrancars yesterday. And apparently, she's disappeared as well."

"Hold on, are you saying someone else disappeared along with Raven?" Robin asks.

"…Where's Orihime?" Ichigo asks, interrupting Robin.

"Have you taken care of the interference yet?" Tōshirō asks, ignoring their questions and waiting for Rangiku's reply.

"Yes, it looks like we're good to go." The machine connects and Ukitake appears on the screen.

"Ukitake? Where's Captain Commander?" Tōshirō asks, confused.

"I'm here instead."

"Why?"

Ukitake closes his eyes and continues, "Because I was the last person to see Orihime Inoue before she went through the Senkaimon." The Shinigami get tense as the Titans stand in the back, confused at the situation. "Judging by your reaction, it's safe to say that she never made it there."

"What do you mean…Ukitake-san?" Ichigo asks. "Where did Orihime go? You know something right?"

"I'll give you my opinion. The two guards I sent with her came back alive. According to them, Orihime Inoue was either kidnapped…or murdered by an Arrancar."

"Captain Ukitake! Even if it's just a hypothesis, saying something like that-!" Tōshirō begins.

"I know…I don't like saying this either…I'm just listing the worst case scenarios. According to our information, she was attacked by an Arrancar and disappeared along with him."

"Don't screw around! This is just wrong! You're saying she's dead, without any real proof, just because she vanished? Don't give me that shit! Take a look at this," Ichigo holds up his hand. "My hand was seriously injured in that fight yesterday. It was something no one here can heal! But when I woke up this morning, there wasn't even a scar! And I can still feel Orihime's reiatsu! You still think Orihime's dead?"

Footsteps can be heard from behind Ukitake. The Titans stand there confused and Yumichika glances over to them. "Just stand still and wait."

"I see…What a pity. If what you say is true, then Orihime Inoue is still alive. But at the same time, that means that she's a traitor. If she was kidnapped, then she would have not been able to see you. As such, healing your injuries and then disappearing means that…Orihime Inoue joined forces with the Arrancar of her own free will," Yamamoto states bluntly.

"You asshole-!" Ichigo begins, but Renji grabs him by the shoulder.

"Stop! Anything else you say will only make things worse for her," Renji explains. "We understand, Captain-Commander Yamamoto. I, Vice-Captain of the 6th squad and member of Hitsugaya's advance guard, Renji Abarai seek permission to go to Hueco Mundo and bring the traitor Orihime Inoue back to our side."

Ichigo and Renji glance at each other and Yamamoto slams his staff down, replying firmly, "Permission denied." His response shocks the Shinigami present in the room and he continues, "Now that it is clear the Arrancar are preparing for battle, all members of Hitsugaya's advance guard must return immediately to help fortify Soul Society's defenses."

"Are you telling us to abandon Orihime?" Rukia asks.

"Exactly. The weight of one life cannot compare to that of the entire world."

"Captain-Commander, I'm afraid I won't be able to follow those orders," Rukia replies bravely.

"As I expected. Fortunately, I anticipated that some of you might say as much and made special arrangements." As he finishes, some doors appeared out of nowhere and opened up. Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki are standing at the entrance, waiting for them to come with them back to Soul Society. The Titans move to the corner as the Shinigami stare in shock.

"Captain!" Renji mutters.

"You heard him. Time to go back, guys," Kenpachi sighs disinterestedly.

"Don't resist. We've been ordered to take you back by force if necessary," Byakuya warns.

After a few moments of silence, Ichigo begins, "I understand. I won't ask Soul Society for any help. But…can you at least tell me how to get into Hueco Mundo? Orihime is my friend. I'll go save her on my own."

"We're going with you," Robin interrupts. All eyes turn on Robin as he continues, "Our friend could have been abducted by these Arrancars too. She could be at this Hueco Mundo place. We're going with you, Ichigo."

"No!" Yamamoto answers firmly, shocking both teenagers. "We will need your strength in the upcoming battle. And you four will be assisting us. I won't allow you to act foolishly on your own and die like a dog. Wait until you receive your orders. That is all." With that, the screen disconnects and Ichigo looks down silently.

"Let's go," Kenpachi says firmly, turning back around.

They all step in and Rukia looks back at the two teenagers. "I'm sorry…" The doors close and the two reach an agreement with just a glance to each other. The five of them go back to the abandoned warehouse and Ichigo leaves a note for Shinji.

"You guys can stay here for now. I'm still deciding over something…" he mutters, walking away. Robin turns towards Cyborg and the others.

"We'll stay here until you make your decision. Just meet up with us before you do anything," Robin tells him. After Ichigo leaves, Robin turns towards Starfire. "You still haven't achieved your Hollowfication yet have you, Star?"

"Not yet. Shinji had planned for me to train today, but Raven disappearing has made us sever the ties with him and his friends."

"We'll find a way to help you train," he assures her, grabbing her hand. As the two lie down to look at the stars, Beast Boy and Cyborg are by the T-Ship, talking about something.

"That old guy thinks he can tell us what to do, huh? Who does he think he is? I say we go storm that Hueco Mundo place and get Raven back," Cyborg mutters.

"But dude, we don't know what Ichigo plans to do. And we don't even know if Raven really is at that place. We don't even know how to get there!"

"We'll find a way. I guess we'll just have to go with Ichigo then…" Cyborg decides. The four Titans go into their tents and rest. After such an event, who wouldn't want to rest?

**(Tell me~No~Tell me~No~ Tell me~No~ Tell me~No~ Tell me~No~ Tell me~No~ Tell me~No~ Tell me~!)**

Las Noches

A strong amount of reiatsu suddenly begins building up in Raven's room. Apache jumps up from the sofa and dashes to Raven's side. "Just what the hell is up with this girl…?" Apache mutters as Raven's eyes twitch. She opens her eyes and sits up quickly, shocking Apache into falling down on her butt. Raven hears the crash and turns in the direction to see Apache, trying to stand up. The door slams open and Mila-Rose immediately staggers. She struggles to get to Apache, but the reiatsu around Raven is too much.

"Su…suppress your reiatsu…you're…g…going to kill her…" Mila-Rose mutters.

Raven stares at her confusedly and immediately freezes when she sees a flash of yellow by the bed. The next thing she knows, she sees Halibel standing by the doorway supporting Apache. Mila-Rose had been pulled out of the room by Sun-sun and Apache is set outside as well. "Get away from me," Raven states coldly, building up her black aura at her hands.

"I'm not here to fight. Aizen-sama wants me to bring you to him. He has something to tell you."

"I know who Aizen is. And I won't be talking to someone like him."

"Listen, you! Aizen-sama isn't evil!" Apache interrupts, appearing behind Halibel. Apache takes a step forward, but Halibel stops her. "Halibel…sama?"

The two stare at each other and after a few seconds, Raven envelops the sofa in her energy and chucks it at Halibel. Halibel and Apache dodges and the sofa crashes into the wall next to Halibel. "Aizen-sama just wants to talk. Come with us…"

"If I refuse?" Raven asks confidently, getting off the bed.

"Then your friends die," a new voice begins. Halibel closes her eyes and steps over to Apache. Ulquiorra walks into the room with his typical expressionless face. "Aizen-sama has allowed the Espada to kill your friends should you not cooperate."

Raven notices Apache get stiff before she walks out of the room to be with her fellow Fracción. "You're lying…" Raven mutters, her hands becoming enveloped in her aura again. Before Ulquiorra can say or do anything, Raven shoots her aura at Ulquiorra. He easily swats it away as Raven stands there, stunned.

"Come with us…woman…" Raven's body immediately freezes from the reiatsu pouring out of both Espada. "Otherwise, we and our Fracción will slaughter your friends," he threatens. Raven glances over to Halibel and almost falls onto her knees from the increasing reiatsu.

Raven grits her teeth and nods her head slightly. Ulquiorra turns around and heads out as Raven follows, pulling up her hood. "R…Raven?" Orihime begins as soon as she steps out of the room.

"You're…Orihime…right?" Raven asks. Someone pushes her in the back and she turns around to see Mila-Rose glaring at her.

"Move it," she mutters. Raven walks next to Orihime as Ulquiorra and Halibel leads them to Aizen's throne room.

"What are you doing here?" They ask simultaneously. Orihime stops and lets Raven speak first. "I'm…still not sure why. But that Espada," Raven gestures to Ulquiorra, "threatened that the Espada will kill my friends if I don't cooperate."

"Aizen wants me for something…And he told me the same thing," Orihime explains.

"What does this guy want with us…?" Raven wonders, thinking about her friends. _"How are they doing without me?"_

Urahara Shop

Urahara is gazing out to the moon as he senses five reiatsu signatures. He smirks and greets them, "Welcome! I knew you would come…Ichigo-san…and friends."

"Why'd you think that?" Ichigo asks, coming out of the shadows. Robin and his team come out from behind him. Robin has his backpack with him and Beast Boy is glancing up at the moon.

"You came thinking that I might know how to get to Hueco Mundo, right?" The five of them stay silent and Urahara continues, "You're right!" He slides open the door and turns back to them. "Everything's ready for you." As they walk in, Urahara regards Robin and the others. "And what are Americans doing here in lovely Japan?"

"…We hollowfied…We had planned to leave once all five of us figured out how to beat our Inner Hollows, but…we didn't count on Raven getting kidnapped…" Robin replies, ashamed of himself. _"And it's my fault she's been kidnapped. I'm the worst leader ever…"_ He looks down with anger and regret shown on his face.

"Your friend…has a blue cloak, correct?"

"Yes, how'd you know?" Robin replies, looking up.

"She helped us fight some Arrancar the day before. Apparently, she was kidnapped after she left us," Kisuke explains. They climb down the ladder to the underground training room. "I was afraid that Aizen might before Orihime-chan's abilities, so I tried to take her out of the battle. But I was too late…Looking at it from her perspective now, making her stay out like I did was a mistake. So I plan on doing everything I can to help. I hope you four can rescue your friend. She seemed like a nice girl."

"You sure? You'll be going against the Soul Society," Ichigo asks emotionlessly.

"That's how I ended up here in the first place."

"You have a pretty pathetic look on your face right now…Ichigo," a voice begins from above them. Uryū Ishida, one of Ichigo's friends is sitting on a rock looking down at the pair.

"Uryū? Why are you here?" Ichigo asks.

"It should be obvious…" a lower voice replies, walking out from behind a rock. "We're going to Hueco Mundo."

"Chad?"

"Urahara-san told us everything. We're going too."

"Yeah."

"You can't. I appreciate the thought, but Chad…Uryū…You two just aren't strong enough (Me: Well you're an ass)."

"Ichigo…" Chad's right arm is enveloped in white light and it changes into his right arm of the giant. The fist collides with Ichigo's Zanpakutō and a huge explosion erupts at the spot. "Am I still not powerful enough? Believe in us! Don't bear this burden alone," he says, pulling away.

Uryū leaps down from his seat and acknowledges the Titans. "Who are you?"

"I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. That's Cyborg, our mechanic. Beast Boy's our jokester and Starfire's the good all-around. And our last member…" Robin trails off, not wanting to look anyone in the eye.

"Where's your fifth member?" Uryū asks. An uncomfortable silence fills the room for a few minutes.

"She was kidnapped by that bastard Aizen or whatever you call him," Cyborg interjects glaring at nothing in particular.

"Aizen?" Chad and Uryū stare at them, still not believing the turn of events.

"Ok, ok! All set, everyone?" Urahara interrupts, having them all turn to him. "You'll all understand the situation as it continues. Just know that Aizen has abducted both Orihime-chan and Raven-san. These four want to rescue their friend just like you three. Get along~" They all look at him with determined faces and Urahara smirks. "Looks like everyone's ready now." After a few minutes, Urahara and his workers are all ready to open the Garganta. He gets on a board jutting out of a rock and bends down, putting his staff down. "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis." The familiar Garganta opens up and the 7 wait for Urahara's orders. "This hole that the Arrancar use is referred to as a Garganta. There aren't any paths inside, only a constant, turbulent flow of reishi. I must ask you to use those reishi to make your own pathway. You should make it to Hueco Mundo if you head towards the darkness."

"Got it! …Urahara-san. Could you take care of my family for me? Maybe say something so they don't worry about me."

"I understand…and your friends?"

"I'll apologize to them once I get back," Ichigo responds, looking down.

"Ichigo," Robin begins, turning to him. "I don't need to know what happened between you and your friends. But you have to know that friends are there for a reason. Don't keep everything bottled up. The least you could do was explain to your friends the situation. They are your friends after all."

"Nakama…is the word, is it not?" Starfire asks, looking at Ichigo.

Ichigo looks ahead with an emotionless face and he replies, "Yeah…Nakama…" Ichigo remembers what Tatsuki had told him earlier. _"Aren't we friends? Aren't we…NAKAMA?"_ He looks up at the Garganta and sets a determined look on his face. "Alright…let's go!" The seven-man rescue team jumps into the Garganta and it closes behind them. From then on, rescuing their Nakama is the only thing going through their mind.

"In any case…I must return…to my work…" Urahara mumbles, putting his hand on his hat.

Las Noches

The girls enter the room and Raven sees Luppi, Yammy, and Wonderweiss. Raven, with her hood up, notices the teal-haired man staring at them coldly and Ulquiorra and Halibel stand to the side. Her Fracción leave the room as Aizen introduces himself to the two. "Welcome…to our castle, Las Noches. You are called Orihime Inoue…and Raven Roth…correct?" The two girls nod and Raven glances over to the Arrancar present in the room.

"_Looks like escape's out of the question…I can't tell who's the Espada in here except for Luppi. It's not worth the gamble…it's just the two of us against 7 people…"_ She turns back to Aizen as he gazes at the two.

"I'm sorry to rush this, Orihime, but could you show me your power?" His reiatsu increases as he continues, "It seems that there are some who don't approve of bringing you here. Isn't that right, Luppi?" He glances over to Luppi.

Luppi looks off to the side with a sullen look and replies, "Obviously. Our entire battle was just a diversion to get these two girls here. There's no way I could approve of that! And that blue witch was part of the reason why I was injured this badly!" He gestures to the bandages wrapped around his head and the patch on his cheek.

"I'm sorry. I hadn't predicted that you would get beaten up so badly. Ah, yes, we can do that." Aizen sits up a bit and continues, "Orihime…Please heal Grimmjow's arm as a way of demonstrating your power."

"No way! That's crazy, Aizen-sama!" Luppi interrupts. "Grimmjow? Commander Tōsen turned his arm to ash! How are you supposed to heal something that doesn't even exist? She isn't God!" Ignoring Luppi and his ranting, Orihime calmly walks over to Grimmjow's left side with Raven behind her. Luppi notices the two and frowns.

"Sōten Kisshun…" Two of Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka fly out of her hair clip and envelops Grimmjow's left area in an orange glow. "I reject…"

"Hey! Are you listening woman?" Luppi continues as Grimmjow looks down at Orihime with a look of shock and disbelief in his eyes. "A little performance isn't gonna save your life, so cut it out! If you don't, I'll kill you! That power is fake! There's no reason for someone like you…live…" He trails off as the skin from Grimmjow's arm begins forming. Grimmjow stares at his arm, still not believing that it's right there. "How? That's beyond any kind of healing technique! What the hell did you do, woman?"

"You didn't know?" Aizen asks in his calm (and conceited) voice. "Ulquiorra perceived it as reversing time or reverting the space."

"Impossible! There's no way a human could have such a high-level ability…There's just no way!"

"Exactly. Both those explanations are wrong. This is phenomenon rejection. Her ability allows her to limit, reject, or deny things that happen to a certain object. It allows her to make things as they were before anything happened to them. This power is even greater than turning back time or reverting spaces. As a result, she can overturn events decided by God himself. Her ability impinges upon God's territory…" Aizen explains as Raven stares at Orihime in disbelief.

"_No way…someone like her is capable of doing something like that?"_ She says to herself.

Grimmjow flexes his hand to check for any injuries and begins, "Hey woman. Heal one more spot." He points to the scar covering his "6".

She heals the area and Luppi demands, "And just what do you think you're doing…Grimmjow?" Grimmjow turns around with a bloodthirsty grin on his face and, in a flash, he stabs Luppi in the abdomen. Luppi coughs up blood and struggling, says, "Grimmjow…you bastard!"

Grimmjow brings up his right hand and begins charging a Cero. "Damn right! Later, former Sexta!" The Cero wipes out Luppi and all that's left is his lower body, which crumples onto the ground. Then, Grimmjow breaks into maniacal laughter screaming, "It's back! My power's back! I'm 6! The 6th Espada, Grimmjow!" As he continues laughing, the present Arrancar show disinterest in his insanity and Aizen looks down with a faint diabolical smile. Raven walks over to the frightened Orihime and tries to hide her disgust from the remains of what was Luppi Antenor.

"It'll be fine…I'm pretty sure they'll come and rescue us…" Raven assures Orihime, implying about their 7-man rescue team. "They'll come…" she mutters to herself. "I'm sure of it…"

Garganta

Ichigo, leading the way, charges ahead of the others in the strange space. "So…Hueco Mundo is ahead." Suddenly, he trips on the path and curses. "He made it sound like using the reishi as a pathway would be easy! I suck at delicate operations like this!" As they continue running, Chad suddenly falls down. He manages to grab onto the side and Cyborg pulls him up. "You ok, Chad?"

"No problem…" he replies, giving Ichigo a thumbs-up.

"Sorry."

"Jeez, how pathetic," Uryū begins, appearing from the side with his own reishi path. Starfire and Robin are behind him on that path. "Can't you make a better path?"

"Shove it! I just said I'm bad at stuff like this! And what the hell's with yours? It's not fair that yours is so perfect like that!" Ichigo complains.

"I'm just using a variation of Hirenkyaku. This is nothing."

"Then make one for me!"

"Sorry, but with your reiatsu-manipulation skills, you'd never be able to control it."

"What did you say? You make it sound like I have no ability at all!"

"Am I wrong? You can't even make a decent pathway," Uryū insults.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Ichigo rants, taking a step forward. His foot immediately breaks through and he stumbles.

Uryū ignores the situation and says, "Alright, I'm off." With that, Uryū leaves with Robin and Starfire following him. Cyborg offers to help Ichigo and he manages to make a clean and even path for the other three to walk on.

"Your path is so much better than Strawberry's over there," Beast Boy brings up, trying to taunt Ichigo and lighten up the mood.

"It's just pure luck, man," Cyborg replies, following Uryū. "I just want to rescue Raven…"

"I know…We might not know her as much, she may be mysterious and brooding, but she's still our friend," Beast Boy replies, catching up to Cyborg. Ichigo and Chad exchange glances and follow the two in front of them.

"So she must be a pretty close friend of yours," Ichigo begins, making them turn back to the two.

"'Course she is, man. She might hide in her room all day, but at least she makes an effort to be around us once in a while," Cyborg replies, smirking. "If it weren't for her, Star and the rest of us would be Hollows without any hope of beating the crap out of our inner Hollows."

"That's right. She told me that she was the one that found out about Karakura Town and Tōshirō," Ichigo replies as Chad looks at him confused. "Their friend found out about us and if it weren't for her, they'd all be dead," he explains to Chad.

"Come on! We're almost there!" Cyborg announces, sprinting behind Uryū.

"We're coming for you guys!" Robin and Ichigo begin, charging ahead.

Orihime's Room

Orihime is staring out the barred window with the moonlight illuminating her face. "They told me to stay in here and be quiet…but, there's nothing to do here. I wonder…if it was really a good idea to come here…" she reflects about Grimmjow earlier. "Healing their injuries over and over again…will just result in…But, I have to make them trust me long enough so everyone can prepare for war…What does Aizen want with Raven…?" She remembers that Aizen had wanted to speak to Raven privately before she was escorted out of the room by Ulquiorra and Yammy. Raven had a look of reassurance in her face, but in her eyes had something like…fear?

Aizen's Throne

"What do you want with me, Aizen?" Raven asks, glaring up at the conceited man. Her hands are balled into fists by her side and she is taking note of the Arrancar present in the room. _"That emotionless Espada already left with Orihime and that big Arrancar. All that's left is the female Arrancar, that autistic Arrancar, and Aizen himself. The insane #6 was the first one to leave. Do I even stand a chance against these three?"_

"I hope you aren't thinking of escape, Raven," Aizen begins, interrupting her train of thought. "You probably know that Halibel is an Espada. And that I am the strongest in this room."

"How do you know about me?" Raven asks, trying a different tactic. _"I hope this will distract him so I can get out. First chance I get, I'm making a dash for the door. I wonder if that Halibel woman will let me out…"_

"I've been keeping an eye on you since the defeat of your…father…" Aizen pauses, sneering slightly at the teenager's tense reaction. She recovers and glares at him, but not with the same intensity as before.

"You…know about him?" she asks, almost breaking into a cold sweat.

"Of course I do. I know about him and how you managed to defeat him," Aizen replies. "And I know what your friends think of you…" He trails off as her eyes widen.

"What are you talking about?" Raven demands, her hands beginning to emit a dark glow. She notices Halibel get tense, but Aizen is still looking down with an amused look in his eyes.

"You don't believe me?" Aizen asks. "If they were to come rescue you, they're only hurrying to their deaths. Do you honestly think they would rescue a **demon's daughter**?"

That last question touched a nerve. A nerve that broke Raven's usual calm. Eyes flashing red, she leaps up and prepares to shoot a bolt at Aizen. He swats the dark energy away and grabs her hand, making her land in front of him. "Do you honestly know about us? I highly doubt it. You're just a manipulating bastard…like Slade!" she retorts, trying to kick him. He stops it and she stares at him in frustration.

"Ah yes…Slade. The man that assisted your father…correct?" He releases her and she looks up at him in anger. "He knows about your friends' opinions about you. They used to be so frightened of you before that fight with your father. But afterwards, they didn't know if they could trust you anymore. After all, you hid the truth about your father from them until you were forced to tell them…I can also feel the jealousy within you."

"What are you-?" she begins only to be interrupted by him.

"You must be jealous of Starfire being Robin's girlfriend…are you not?" He pauses as a melancholy expression flashes across her face. He continues, "You also must be jealous because your friends have enhanced skills thanks to the masks. I believe their control is a lot better now…while you still have to meditate constantly to keep your emotions in check…"

"_This bastard knows everything! …But does he know about my fight with Terra…and Malchior?"_ Raven wonders, hoping that Aizen doesn't continue with his mind games.

Somehow managing to read her mind, he asks, "You've been trying to control your powers since that fight with that girl…Terra…was it? Someone also informed me about that dragon…Malchior…tricking you into releasing him from the book he was trapped in…" With Aizen's mind games continuing on, Raven stops resisting and let her hands go slack. Aizen releases her and mocks, "Poor, poor Raven. The bird that is always looked down on…how befitting for someone like you." He bends down and whispers in her ear, "_I can help you achieve better power…better control…and soon, your friends will have nothing horrible to say. Do you…accept…Raven Roth?"_

She tries to resists his venomous words, but they ring so true. _"I refuse to believe this! It's just a ploy he's using to manipulate me! There's no way Robin and the others hate me! He's just trying to manipulate me! I shouldn't believe anything that comes out of his mouth! I'm…their friend…their…Nakama…"_ Her knees give out on her and as the words continue to sink in by the second, her vision begins turning black. "…My…friends..." She collapses and Aizen looks at her.

"I'll take it as a 'yes'…Halibel," Aizen calls for the Tercera Espada. "Please take her back to her room. When she regains consciousness and her composure, bring her to me. Ah…and make sure that your Fracción are together when they are watching her. Her reiatsu is as high as yours so make sure your Fracción know that."

"Yes…Aizen-sama." She uses Sonído to pick Raven up and then reappears by the door with Raven being carried under her arm again. It swings open and she leaves the room with the unconscious bird. Aizen goes to his room and immediately senses the familiar reiatsu signature of a certain strawberry.

Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy burst through the air into one of the buildings connected to Las Noches. The huge combination of their reiatsu can be sensed by all the Espada and their Fracción in Las Noches. "…Ichigo?" Orihime asks in shock, staring out at the barred window. Ulquiorra senses the reiatsu and Yammy's eyes widen.

"Ulquiorra! Is it-?"

"Of course it is. That woman's trashy friends have arrived…like lambs to the slaughter…" Ulquiorra replies, brushing off Yammy and his reaction.

Halibel arrives in Raven's room right as the reiatsu increases. "They're here…" she hears Sun-sun tell the other two.

"All-out war, huh?" Apache mutters, trying to figure out where they came from. "Underground Tunnel…#22…pretty far from us."

"Well, we'll have time to prepare while they get their asses in here. I still don't get what Aizen plans to do," Mila-Rose replies.

Halibel puts the unconscious Raven down onto the bed and her Fracción turn towards her. "Keep a close eye on her. And if she wakes up, be careful. Aizen-sama says that her reiatsu is as high as mine. So watch out. Once she wakes up, call me. I will bring her straight to Aizen-sama."

"Yes, Halibel-sama," the three reply in unison. Halibel leaves the room and runs into Lilynette, Coyote Starrk's only Fracción.

"Hi, Halibel," Lilynette greets her.

"What are you doing here without Starrk?" Halibel questions her as Lilynette glances over to the door Halibel had just exited.

"I wanted to get a look at that girl with the cloak. She looked so…lonely," Lilynette replies, a bit of pity going into her tone. "Can I go check on her?"

"Go ahead; I'll go in with you in case she wakes up and does something rash." The pair enter the room to hear the three Fracción arguing...again.

"Waking her up will be just like digging your own graves. Halibel-sama did tell us that Raven's reiatsu is as high as hers. We shouldn't risk it just because of your own stubborn curiosity, Apache," Sun-sun retorts.

"Well, I want to know what is up with this girl. She seemed as strong as Halibel-sama and you know how rare that is! The sooner she wakes up, the sooner we'll get to know what Aizen wants with her!" Apache replies angrily as Mila-Rose notices Halibel and Lilynette. Apache steps over to Raven's side and reaches for her shoulder.

"Don't, Apache," Halibel begins after noticing that Apache didn't notice her presence. "We should not disturb her at this moment." Lilynette stops by Halibel's side, waiting for something to happen.

Apache looks up after hearing Halibel's voice and accidentally bumps into Raven's arm. She stirs as the Fracción freeze; Halibel standing there as calmly as ever. Luckily, she just rolls over to her side muttering some words with her face scrunched up as if in pain. "Don't…guys…please…don't…" She grips the bed sheets as the Arrancars present in the room look at her. "Please…don't…leave…" A tear escapes her eye as Lilynette walks to her side.

"You're not alone…Aizen-sama won't leave you alone to die," Lilynette whispers. Raven's grip on the sheet slackens and her face relaxes. Lilynette turns around as the door opens and Starrk enters the room.

"This is a pain in the ass, but Aizen wants us to go to the Meeting Room," Starrk explains, scratching his head and yawning.

"Alright," Halibel replies, leaving. She stops by the door and tells her Fracción, "Don't fight and don't disturb Raven. Let her rest. She'll need it…" With that, she closes the door and heads to the Meeting Room with Starrk.

"Pain in the freaking ass…" Starrk mutters as Halibel goes ahead of him. "What is up with that girl's reiatsu…?" He wonders out loud, turning back to the door. "Lilynette better not do something stupid…" Starrk follows Halibel down the long corridor that will lead them to the Meeting Room.

_Hueco Mundo is strangely at peace except for one spot…At Underground Tunnel #22, the building collapses…with Ichigo, Uryū, Chad, and the Teen Titans still inside it…_

_TBC~_

* * *

><p><strong>Happy Birthday to Me~ Happy Birthday to Me~ Happy Birthday to Me~ Happy Birthday to Me~ Haha~ PRESENT TIME! AND I'LL FINALLY KNOW WHAT MY FRIENDS GOT ME TOMORROW! BOOM SHACKA BOOM! MWAHAHAHAHA *practically flies out the room with her new tennis racket with an insane smile on her face*<strong>

**May: *stares at the knocked down door* …Same age…yet different personalities…**

**Tayuya: …I'll agree with you there…Ah! Lefty forgot to put on protective gear so people won't kick/punch her!**

**May: …Oh well…her fault for being hyperactive. **

**Tayuya: *stares at the things on the ground* …And she forgot her sketchbook for Art…**

**May: No she didn't, that's mine *opens to a random page* *points at it* See?**

**Tayuya: *stares at it in shock and disbelief* …Of all the things to draw, it had to be you sitting on a queen-like chair…over a pile of bones…and slaves doing stuff around you…IS THAT ME?**

**May: What? I drew other people too…**

**Tayuya: …I see...*glances at two figures to the side*…IS THAT AIZEN? AND TSUKISHIMA?**

**May: *looks to the side knowingly with a malicious grin*Maybe~**

**Tayuya: …I give…I seriously give…**

**May: …Wow 14 pages…She probably did it on purpose. Oh and Tay, care to do the send-off?**

**Tayuya: COMMENTS AND SUGGESTION GO TO LEFTY AND MAY! *reads from a sheet of paper* "I'm just the older sibling of May Yuki and I'm a violent…cursing…short…flat…" *chucks paper at May* WHY THE HELL AM I READING THIS SHIT! **

**May: Because it's our birthdays and YOU were the one that lost that bet we made…Do you not recall?**

**Tayuya: …Oh that one…**

**May: Ugh! It's so hot over here in Cali! The weather is so bi-polar…I'm an ice person! Not a fire person! This weather is perfect for someone like you, Tay, but it sucks like hell for me!**

**Tayuya: Haha…Review people! **

**May: We appreciate people favoriting and story alerting our story (or stories), but we like reviews too. Sayonara and see you guys next time~**

**Lefty: *from somewhere* *sniffles**sniffles* I lost yesterday…I don't want to talk about it! Why did "Mom" pair me up with her? *sniffles* REVIEW FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!~**


	7. I Accept

**I love you, my darlings~ *hugs presents with hearts floating around her***

**May: …You must really love them…Anyways, let's answer any questions people have. Well I will be since Lefty is in gaga land with her presents…at least she only got punched…like 20 times…instead of 14+ from the other people…By the way, she's skipping the whole meeting Nel scene. She wants to get it straight to the point. Nel and her "brothers" WILL be in this story, but she doesn't want to waste time with their intros. She will also not have Nel speak with that tongue lisp that she had in the manga and anime. I hope you readers understand. *bows like a sophisticated butler***

**Fanamaniac: Lefty says thanks and that she is very immature. She acts like an 8 year old. Well, Lefty really wanted to know what she got so that's why. We used to suck at describing…a lot. But we know that if we don't describe well enough, no one will understand the situation. So, that's why we're watching the anime even though we don't like to. Yamamoto is all-knowing so of course he knows. That's what Lefty wanted to say. What I would say is that Hitsugaya-san reported the situation to Yamamoto since he does somehow know about it. And the translation on BleachGet was like that so yeah. We don't want to trust the manga from the websites anymore. Yes Aizen is a "manipulative sucka." Trust me; a bunch of people wouldn't let him see the living daylights. I will bloody murder him the first chance I get. Let's put it this way, Aizen's mind games have disrupted her powers since she's feeling confusion right now. I am aware that it sounds like Starfire, but Lefty does not want to think right now…*gestures at the figure smothering the panda***

**Yin7: No idea what Lefty has to say, but I would like to thank you for the review. Any suggestions on your part are welcome.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach or Teen Titans, that would have been an awesome birthday present~**

**Warning: THERE IS CURSING AND THERE ARE SPOILERS! YE HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

**ON WITH THE STORY~**

_Recap~_

_With Yamamoto's (_the damn ass_) refusal, Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, Robin (Richard/Dick Grayson), Starfire (Koriand'r), Cyborg (Victor Stone), and Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) went to Kisuke Urahara to find a way to get to Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime Inoue and Raven Roth. Kisuke managed to open a Garganta and the 7-man rescue team has arrived at Hueco Mundo. Meanwhile, Orihime has healed Grimmjow Jeagerjaques' left arm and the scar covering his "6". With it healed, he murders Luppi and regains his spot. After that, Raven confronts Aizen, only to collapse from his mind games. Is she going to accept his offer of becoming something greater? _

Hueco Mundo

After the collapse of Underground Tunnel #22, everything has come to a complete silence. Suddenly, the 7-man rescue team bursts out of the sands, coughing and gagging on the sand. Robin quickly recovers and turns his head to the right, noticing the huge building in front of them. "Is that…a palace?" Robin asks Ichigo. Ichigo, Uryū, and Chad turn towards his direction and notice the structure as well.

"Could it be the Las Noches they're talking about?" Uryū asks. Starfire and the others stand by Robin as he glares at the building.

"I can sense Raven in there!" Robin announces as his teammates look ahead trying to get the feel too.

"I do not sense her, Robin. Are you sure she is in there?" Starfire questions him, still trying to find her.

"I know she's in there…" He trails off, remembering that Starfire and the others don't know about their bond when Robin had encountered that strange chemical (episode Haunted for those that don't know what I'm talking about).

"The walls must be blocking her reiatsu," Ichigo begins. "I can't sense Orihime in there, but they said that she should be in there."

"It's likely. It doesn't seem like there's any other places to hide them," Uryū agrees.

"Let's run. Just standing around here will only lead to more fighting," Ichigo decides. They all agree on it and charge towards it. From somewhere, two figures are looking down at them.

A voice begins, "It appears we have some intruders…"

The double-doors of the meeting room swings open with a creak as the 10 Espada walk in, commenting on the situation. "Intruders?" An old and grumpy voice asks, a tone of surprise leaking into his word.

"Apparently, the 22nd Underground Passageway has just collapsed," a calm voice replies.

"22? That's rather far from here," he replies, walking to his seat.

A man with pink hair and white glasses puts his right hand on the table and replies wistfully, "Too bad. It would have been more interesting if they had broken into the throne room instead…"

"Hahahahaha! Oh that would have been cool…" Nnoitra begins, leaning back on his seat with his hands behind his head.

"Quiet down…" Starrk mumbles, sitting down. "I'm tired as hell; don't be so freaking noisy." Bubbling noises can be heard as another Espada sits down and Halibel takes a seat to the right of him. Grimmjow roughly sits down, propping his right leg over his left. Ulquiorra calmly sits down and Yammy puts his elbow on the table, using it to lean his head.

With all the Espada present in the room, more footsteps can be heard from the opposite door. Aizen and his two cohorts, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen appear and Aizen greets them, "Good morning, my dear Espada." They all turn to him, waiting for him to begin the meeting. "It seems we have some intruders…but first…let us have some tea…" (May: In layman's term it's: We have intruders, but I don't give a damn so let's drink some tea as they come to us.)

After a few minutes of the Arrancar servants preparing the tea, Aizen gazes at the present Espada. "Everyone has some now, right? Now, please listen carefully while you have a drink…" Aizen's eyes turn towards Kaname and he says, "Kaname, turn on the projector…"

"Yes…" Kaname replies, pulling a switch. The projector turns on at the center of the table and shows 7 figures running in the desert of Hueco Mundo.

"The names of our 7 intruders are: Uryū Ishida, Starfire, Yasutora Sado, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin…and Ichigo Kurosaki…" The projector flashes each of their faces and Grimmjow gets tense as Aizen says Ichigo's name. Aizen calmly sips his tea before continuing.

From the Espada sitting next to Halibel, two voices emerge. "**And these…**are our enemies?" The two voices ask, one with a low voice and one with a high voice.

"What's this? When you said we were under attack, I was curious as to who our enemy was," the old Espada complains.

The pink-haired Espada agrees saying, "They're just kids! Not very exciting at all…"

"I advise you not to underestimate them. Kurosaki, Sado, Ishida, and a fourth person were once labeled Ryoka. Four of them broke into Soul Society and fought on par with the Gotei 13. The Titans have fought with the demon called Trigon and have survived many battles against other villains."

"Four? Then one of them is missing. Where's the fourth?" the dark-skinned Espada asks. "And were there not five of those supposed Teen Titans?"

Aizen smirks knowingly as Ulquiorra explains, "That would be Orihime Inoue. And the fifth Titan is Raven Roth."

"Aw, so they've come to save their friends. Why not let 'em? They look weak as hell," Nnoitra mocks.

Halibel turns towards him and asks, "Haven't you been listening? Aizen-sama told us not to underestimate them."

"I didn't mean it like that," Nnoitra retorts. "You afraid?" He sneers at her.

She glares at him and threateningly asks, "What did you say?" Before their argument can escalate to something worse, Grimmjow's hand slams down on the table. He stands up and walks to the stairs behind Aizen.

"Where are you going…Grimmjow?" Kaname asks him.

"I'm going to kill them. You gotta exterminate bugs as soon as they start infesting your home."

"Aizen-sama has not given such an order yet. Return to your seat."

"I'm going to crush them for your precious Aizen-sama!" he yells at Kaname.

After a few seconds, Aizen begins, "Grimmjow."

"Yes?" Grimmjow asks, turning around.

"I appreciate your intentions, but I'm not finished speaking yet. Could you return to your seat, please?" Grimmjow, not taking the hint, continues standing there. "Well?" Grimmjow still remains unresponsive. "I didn't hear your answer…Grimmjow Jeagerjacques…" Aizen increases his reiatsu immensely, causing Grimmjow to collapse onto his knees. After a few moments of him panting, Aizen stands up. "Good. I see you understand. Members of the Espada, as you can see, there are seven enemies. It's unwise to underestimate them, but there's no need to make a commotion either. Everyone, return to your own rooms and act as if everything were normal. Don't be insolent or impatient. Just sit and wait for the enemy to come to us. And do not be afraid…" He brings up his hand as Grimmjow glares at him. "Regardless of the situation, as long as you stay with me, we are invincible…"

Orihime's Room

"_I keep hearing noises down the hall…It sounds like…people arguing?"_ Orihime asks, confusedly trying to hear the words.

Some of the words she could hear are a bit scattered. "Raven…don't…strong…Halibel-sama…stupid...Stop!"

Raven's Room

"I SAID STOP IT, LILYNETTE!" Apache pushes Lilynette away from the unconscious Raven, making her fall on her butt. Lilynette had tried different tactics to get Raven to wake up, but has been unsuccessful. She was just about to start charging her Cero, but Apache managed to stop her in time. "Damn it, Lilynette! I don't care if you're Starrk's Fracción! Halibel-sama told us to let her rest!"

Lilynette gets up and glares at Apache. Mila-Rose and Sun-sun are staring at the two disinterestedly. Suddenly, Raven stirs. "She must have woken up because of your loud mouth. You really need to settle down, Apache," Sun-sun mocks her. Apache glares at her, but soon shifts her attention to Raven.

Raven groans for a moment before blinking her eyes open as her reiatsu begins pressuring the four girls. She sits up and grabs her head as a massive headache erupts in her head. Her eyes focus and she notice the four Arrancars in front of her. She immediately gets up and tries to make a run for the door. She opens it to find Halibel standing in front of it. Raven immediately runs back and tries to get onto the window above her window. When it fails, she tries to teleport out, but her powers are not working. "My powers…"

Being distracted with her powers, she fails to notice Halibel and the Fracción behind her. Apache lunges at her and wraps her arm around Raven's neck. "What happened to your high reiatsu, huh? Ah, well, we're taking you straight to Aizen!" Apache drags her down the bed as she continues struggling.

"Let go of me!" She elbows Apache in the stomach, making her involuntarily let her go. Raven swerves around Lilynette and the others and darts for the door. Before she can exit, Halibel uses Sonído and blocks the door. Raven fails to stop in time and Halibel grabs her before she could escape. "Damn!" she mutters, trying to get Halibel to release her. Raven unknowingly increases her reiatsu tremendously, causing the Fracción to stagger. Raven manages to elbow Halibel in the stomach and runs out the door.

Before she can get any further, she runs into Ulquiorra and Yammy. "The bird's awake!" Yammy yells, trying to grab her. Raven narrowly dodges his massive hand and darts around the two. Yammy chases after her, but she manages to run down the corridor they had exited from…the meeting room, that is. And Aizen is still in there.

Vast Desert of Hueco Mundo: On Bawabawa's back

"So um…what…are your jobs…exactly?" The green-haired Arrancar named Nel Tu asks, pointing at Ichigo and the others nervously. Halfway to the palace, they had collapsed in exhaustion and encountered Nel playing "Eternal Tag" with her two "brothers" Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Balistin. Now, as reconciliation (?), Nel, her brothers, and their pet, Bawabawa, are taking them straight to Las Noches.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami!" Ichigo replies professionally.

"Robin, superhero…as are my friends, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy," Robin explains for them, gesturing to each one.

"Uryū Ishida…Quincy…" Uryū introduces, pushing up his glasses.

"Yasutora Sado…human…" Chad replies. But everything after Ichigo is tuned out by Nel and her brothers as they freak out over assisting a Shinigami.

"I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS STRANGE ABOUT YOU! NO ARRANCAR WOULD BE HEADED TOWARDS LAS NOCHES! I'M GONNA DIEEEEEEEE!" she yells, turning away from him.

"Er…we weren't going to kill you…" Ichigo mutters.

Suddenly, the sand begins shifting as a new voice starts speaking. "And even if they don't, I will destroy you all until nothing is left! I, the protector of this white desert, Runuganga!" He introduces. As Pesche, Nel, and Dondochakka stand there aghast, Ichigo stares at the great man-like sand. "I just received a message from Las Noches concerning you intruders. And to think trash like you would be traveling with them…Unforgivable, you will be turned into sand of the desert as punishment!"

Nel begins denying it, but Ichigo interrupts her. "Get down…**Getsuga Tenshō**!" He shoots his attack at Runuganga and it collides forcefully into his face. "Alright!"

"So sudden! A sneak attack! That's unfair!" Nel and her brothers protest.

"Shut up already. Isn't it alright since I saved you guys? Besides, I hit him in the front so that can't be considered as a surprise attack," Ichigo retorts, stopping as he hears rumbling behind him.

Runuganga begins reconnecting himself, saying, "A surprise attack with no qualms. Intruders…I will not forgive you!"

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo demands.

"Isn't it obvious? Runuganga is made of sand," Nel explains as if she were talking to a child.

"Forget 'made of sand'! That bastard's after you guys too! Don't just stand around-!" Runuganga slams his fist down, but Bawabawa manages to dodge in time.

"Damnit! Isn't there anything we can do? Uryū?"

"I don't think so. All a bow can do is make holes."

"Chad!"

"I don't think I'll be able to beat something made out of sand…want me to try anyways?"

"Robin! What about you guys?"

"I don't think we can do much! Starfire and Cyborg will only make holes. Beast Boy won't be able to do anything against sand and all I have is martial arts and weapons in my utility belt!"

"Crap! We're running away! Just let him go!" Ichigo commands Nel.

"Bawa! Come on, Bawa!" Nel urges.

Runuganga's entire mouth opens and he yells, "YOU…SHALL NOT PASS!"

A huge fissure opens up, surprising all of them. "WHOA! AN EARTHQUAKE?" Ichigo yells, trying to cling to Bawabawa.

"Obviously!" Uryū retorts.

"Nel! Does this guy have any weakness?" Ichigo asks as they sink more and more.

"B-but, I can't tell that to the bad guys!"

Ichigo grabs her cheek and starts yanking on it. "You little twerp! At this rate, you're gonna be buried in the sand with me too!"

"W-water! Water is his weakness!" Nel admits.

"Water? In the desert?"

"Y-yeah! Water!" Nel repeats.

"But where the hell can-!" He stops as a snowflake floats by.

"Tsugi no Mai…Hakuren!" A familiar voice announces as a powerful, pure-white wave of ice envelopes and freezes Runuganga. As Runuganga collapses, Ichigo glances over to where the snow had come from. Standing there, wearing cloaks are Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai.

"Rukia…Renji…" He mumbles as the two descend from the hill of sand. He leaps off of Bawabawa as Nel starts panicking over the new Shinigami. "Rukia…Renji…You guys…" Out of the blue, Rukia punches his chin. She turns around and tags out with Renji before Ichigo can recover. Renji walks over and slams his fist down on Ichigo's head.

He lands on the ground just as the Titans, Uryū, and Chad land on the ground. "Are you alright, Ichigo?"

"You bastard! Why did you recklessly enter Hueco Mundo like this? Why didn't you at least wait for us to return?"

Ichigo sits up and fearlessly tells her, "But how was I supposed to know you were even going to come back…?"

"Of course we would have! No matter what we had to do! Renji and I had planned that from the start! Why didn't you just wait? Why didn't you…believe us?" She kneels down to his level and asks, "Aren't we…your Nakama, Ichigo?" He smiles and agrees. "Good, you seem to understand! But I don't want to **ever** say something like that ever again, got it? Let's go! Don't just sit around like that! We've got to save Orihime!"

They all get onto Bawabawa and after a few minutes, Ichigo remembers something. "Oh that's right. Where'd you guys get those cloaks from? Did you pick them up somewhere?"

"These…were given to us as protection from the dangerous sandy terrain here in Hueco Mundo," she replies, glancing to the side.

"From whom?"

She hesitates and starts blushing. "…My brother."

Robin and Cyborg have no idea why Ichigo and his friends are having heart attacks over this raven-haired girl's brother. "You…you mean to tell me that…Byakuya willingly let you come here?" Ichigo asks, still in shock.

"Urahara-san was the one that opened up the Garganta for us. But we wouldn't be here if it weren't for Captain Kuchiki," Renji explains.

"Brother said, 'Bringing you to Soul Society was all I was tasked to do, and nothing more. Whatever happens to you afterwards is none of my concern. Do as you like.' And…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I get it. That Byakuya's really something."

"After that, he said: 'Hueco Mundo is no place for that filthy scamp to be running around.'" Ichigo punches Bawabawa with his fist. "Speaking of which…who are these guys?" She asks him, turning to Nel and her brothers.

"What are we? How rude! Nel Tu!"

"Dondochakka Balistin!"

"Pesche Guatiche! When combined, we are: The Great Desert Brothers!"

"NelDonPe Bandits!"

"Three Brothers!" They each announce. Then, they start arguing over the name that they should have.

"Anyways…they're Hollows…" Ichigo explains for her. Bawabawa starts crying and they try to figure out how to include him. "Enough already…" Robin stares quietly out to the large structure of Las Noches.

"Raven…" He mutters, sensing fear from her.

Orihime's Room

Changed into her Arrancar uniform, Orihime stares out the grated window. "Surprisingly…it fits you," a voice begins.

"Wah! When did you get here?" Orihime asks, surprised by Ulquiorra's sudden appearance.

"Just now. Please stop your idle banter…" He steps into the room. "There is news…Your Nakama have arrived in Hueco Mundo."

"Why…"

"Looks like we're here…" Uryū says.

Rukia places her hand on the wall. "But these walls…they may be a problem…Although they don't seem to be made of sekkiseki."

"Well then, if they're not made of sekkiseki…then we can just bust our way through right? Let's go then, Renji!"

"Since when did I have to take orders from you?"

"Let me help you guys!" Cyborg interrupts, changing his right arm into his sonic cannon.

"Why…you ask? To rescue you, of course. To them, no other reason is necessary," Ulquiorra replies emotionlessly.

"In order to save me…"

"Correct…However, as of now, that should mean nothing to you. We already own you…body and soul. That you're wearing what you are…is proof enough…Orihime Inoue…" She agrees emotionlessly. "Say it. Your body and soul…just what purpose do they have now?"

"Yes sir…" With the combined onslaught from Ichigo, Renji, and Cyborg, the wall is destroyed. "Their only purpose is for Aizen-sama and his ambition…"

They all charge through the corridor with Nel and her brothers following them. They enter a room with multiple corridors. "An intersection?" Chad asks, looking around.

"Nel…looks like we really will be parting with you guys here…The reiatsu from here on out…you guys won't even be able to tolerate…" Ichigo suggests, smiling to hide his fear.

"There are five paths…" Chad notices.

"The 9 of us will pair up and go through their own corridor. I shall go alone," Rukia suggests.

"Are you crazy? We're going up against the Espada! The smartest choice is to stick together! You really think they're going to come to us alone? We should just-!"

"Enough already. Worrying about a warrior's life on the battlefield is an insult…" Renji interrupts, standing between the two.

"Moving together…huh? No doubt this is because you're worried about me. That really isn't like you, Ichigo. Just as I said before, 'Don't waste your care on me.' I didn't come here just to be protected by you!" she replies determinedly.

Ichigo sighs and agrees reluctantly, "Alright…we'll go in pairs. I'll be with Robin. Chad, you can go with Cyborg. Beast Boy can go with Renji. Starfire will go with Uryū. Rukia…you'll go alone."

They all nod and Renji steps towards them. "Alright! But before we head off, let's do something for good luck! Before heading out for a serious battle, there's a ritual-like chant we do in the Gotei 13. No one really ever uses it anymore, but for some reason...i thought it might be a good idea. Alright! Put out your hands!" They all stare at him nervously and a tick mark forms on his cheek. "Don't look at me like that! I don't even want to do it myself!" They reluctantly crowd around and put their hands in the center.

"**We are about to head out to the battlefield! Believe, our blades will not shatter! Believe, our souls will not be cut! Even if our steps separate, our iron will remains solid! Promise! Even if the ground may split, we will come back alive to this place!"** They break and head their separate ways, intent on nothing but returning alive with their friends.

Meeting Room

Raven charges into the room, panting. She puts her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath. _"Is he still behind me? …Did I manage to escape that huge bulk of an Arrancar?"_ She brings her head up and looks around. "Where am I?"

"Oh~ It seems the bird strayed from her nest~" A happy voice begins from the opposite side of the room.

"Aizen-sama, what should we do?" Another voice begins. Raven gets into a defensive pose, looking for Aizen and his cohorts.

"Gin…Kaname…please leave. I would like to speak with our guest…" Aizen's silky voice commands. A door opens as two figures leave. It closes and Aizen comes into view. "Welcome, Raven…" He puts his hands out in a placating manner as she takes a step back. "Please, sit down…" He gestures to one of the Espada's chairs. She glares at him, taking another step back. "I'm sorry…perhaps I was not clear. I would like you to sit down…and discuss your decision with me." His reiatsu increases immensely, making her collapse onto her knees. She looks up at him and he walks over to her. "So…what is your decision?"

"I…refuse…" she mutters unsurely, looking down.

He kneels down, cupping her chin causing her head to tilt up to look him in the eyes. "Are you sure? Your words may say that, your body may say that…but your eyes tell me that you want to accept my offer. Stop fooling yourself, Raven Roth. Just accept it. It will be so much easier for you to control your powers. Not even that Richard Grayson could help you control your powers."

"Richard…Grayson?" She asks him, confused about who that could be.

"My, my, you don't even know your leader's true identity?" Her eyes widen. "It seems he doesn't trust you enough to reveal his identity to you. I'm sure Starfire and the rest of the teammates know his real name…"

She tries charging up some black energy, but fails. "What's wrong…with my powers…?" She asks, not realizing she said it out loud.

"Perhaps…it's because you realize that you need my help. I shall ask you again…" He pulls off her hood and whispers into her ear, "_Do you accept…__**Raven Roth**__?"_

Her eyes glaze over and she mutters, "Yes…I accept…"

He grins and replies, "Excellent…"

**May: Yes, I know this chapter was crappy. Blame it on Lefty! I was busy playing Ninja with our teammates.**

**Lefty: Don't lie! I was doing it! You didn't help me! Those two got me!**

**May: At least you weren't the first one out. Freaking "Sensei Tran" and her "Sexy pose"…It rubbed off onto "Sensei Luu"…**

**Lefty: Haha! I know right? Although…I hated that tag game. That senior was walking around "like a troll" **(in her words)** saying "Love-40" if people got close to her. Then there was that annoying girl saying Volleys continuously…**

**May: …Love-40…is that a tennis term?**

**Lefty: …I'm not sure anymore…**

**May: I want to play Ninja again.**

**Lefty: So do I! COME ON, LET'S BECOME CIF CHAMPS! BEAT THE DAMN HIGH SCHOOL IN RED! **

**May: Not going to mention the name?**

**Lefty: What if people from that school read this story?**

**May: Someone's paranoid…**

**Lefty: Don't judge me…Anyways, REVIEW!**


	8. The New Espada?

**CIF! CIF! CIF! CIF! CIF! CIF~**

**May: …Ignore her. Just ignore her…please. I will be the one replying to reviews again because Lefty is busy getting excited for CIF and other things.**

**Ultrawolfie: Welcome back, Ultrawolfie-dono. Internet must hate us. Any leftover bubble-wrap? Send it to Lefty. Ah yes, the Kindle. Lefty got it for a Christmas present. I'm a bit surprised that Lyon likes Juvia. I'm curious about Sherry's reaction now. Well, you'll get used to the Titans eventually. Yes, that is the game she is talking about. She accidentally slapped someone's thigh because the person to the right of her was protecting herself already. The person she slapped told her that she didn't think she really was going to try it…I want to play Ninja with the team again. We'll get to on Wednesdays when Coach isn't there…unless "Mother" and "Father" are present…like today...**

**Fanamaniac: She couldn't think of adding anything else and throwing in that cliffhanger would keep people hooked…is what Lefty says. Is it a competition to see who reviews first now? Well, Robin does share that bond with Raven so of course he'd feel like that. Lefty and I support RobxRae by the way. They annoy me, period. We never planned on adding that oath, but she decided to add it when she was patching it up. He probably would have. Now I have…excellent plans for Raven Roth now…Thanks to Kitsura…*snickers evilly* Halloween? Hnn? As Ultrawolfie said, it's **"that game where you pose and try to slap the person next to you"**. **

**Patattack: Lefty had planned to, but Rukia was supposed to stop Runuganga. That's why he didn't throw any disks at the sand monster. It didn't seem rushed to you?**

**Disclaimer: We own Bleach as much as we own your life (take the hint!)**

**Warning: There are cursing and spoilers and other things. Be careful, reader.**

**On with the Story~**

_Recap_

_Emerging from Underground Tunnel #22, Ichigo, Robin, and their teammates have managed to break into Las Noches. Rukia and Renji have joined in thanks to Byakuya. Nel Tu and her brothers have also assisted the rescuers and are considered traitors by Aizen and those living in Las Noches. Orihime accepts the fact that she is now working for Aizen and just as she decides that, Raven escapes into the Espada meeting room. Only to encounter Aizen himself. With his mind games continuing, she finally accepts his offer…_

Outside of Orihime's Room

Ulquiorra exits her room and sees Nnoitra lounging around. "Yo! How's that pet of yours doing?" he asks Nnoitra. Ulquiorra barely acknowledges him. "I know all about it! Aizen-sama put you in charge of taking care of that chick, right? Sweet deal! So…how far have you taken her training?"

Ulquiorra turns away replying, "Disgusting."

Nnoitra blocks his path and continues on, "Don't be such a baby. I'm just asking if it's going well or not."

"You're concerned over such a small matter? You must be very bored. Don't worry. That woman had fallen into the palm of Aizen-sama's hand well before she was brought to Hueco Mundo."

"He used Kyōka Suigetsu?" Nnoitra asks as Ulquiorra walks around him.

"Please, there was no need for him to go that far. When we 'invited' the woman here, we set up several psychological traps. We used her friends' lives as hostages, creating a situation where she could not refuse our orders to surrender. After which, we gave her 12 hours. She had permission to say good-bye to one of her friends so long as she didn't tell anyone what she was really doing," Ulquiorra explains.

"How's that a trap?" Nnoitra questions him.

"Giving her some time and allowing her to say good-bye to a friend after placing her under so much pressure…would cause her hear to waver ever so slightly, under the mistaken belief that we were being merciful. Those twelve hours would also prevent her dwelling on the fact that her friends' lives are at stake. And finally, by allowing her to choose who to say farewell to, it created the illusion that she was not taken forcibly, but left of her own free will. Then, she came to the designated point on her own, knowing I would be there to take her to Hueco Mundo. With that illusion carved deeply into her heart, all will to escape slowly melted away. Finally, the chance to 'say farewell to someone without them noticing you'…technically also means 'leave behind some evidence that you said farewell'."

"So what? Doesn't that ruin everything, then?" Nnoitra asks, probably lost in the whole explanation.

"Just the opposite. That evidence serves as proof that she had complete freedom until the moment she surrendered. In other words, the clearer the signs of her farewell, the more strongly her friends would feel she had betrayed them by her own choice. That last part didn't fully succeed, but it's safe to say that Soul Society has essentially given up on her."

"Wow, he really planned that out. That's our Aizen-sama, huh?"

"Planned it out? This has all been a game as far as Aizen-sama is concerned. It would have been fine whether or not she was deceived. Either way, that woman doesn't have the power to escape in her current state. She lacks both the will and the strength to fight back."

"And what about the bird?" Nnoitra asks as Ulquiorra walks away. "I doubt you did anything to bring her here. It was all Halibel. What's Aizen-sama's plan with her?"

"You do not need to know, Nnoitra. The less people that know, the better," Ulquiorra replies, leaving Nnoitra confused.

Orihime's Room

Aizen had called her to his room. When she entered the room with Loly and Menoly, she never expected to see _that._ Just the thought of it was sending chills up her spine again. When she first came in, there was nothing in there except a chair.

"_I'm glad you came, Orihime. I'm sorry for calling you out so suddenly. There's something I would like you to see. Loly, Menoly, you are dismissed." The two female Arrancars protested, but with a stone-like gaze from Aizen, they left. "Now then, I'd like you to take a look at this, Orihime." A cylindrical storage emerges from the ground. One-third of the cylinder twists away and the Orihime sees the Hōgyoku. "It appears you've figure it out. This is the Hōgyoku. It's in a weakened state because I've repeatedly forced it to fully awaken for one moment at a time. But nevertheless, it is still approaching its original, fully-awakened state. Without the Hōgyoku, I cannot turn Hollow into Arrancar, or make the __Ōken__. If it were not for the Hōgyoku…I would not have been able to turn __**a demon's daughter into an Arrancar**__."_

_Orihime heard a strange noise by the balcony. There was a blue cloak wrapped around a figure, looking out to the vast field of Hueco Mundo. "Raven?" Orihime nervously asked, recognizing the blue clock. She walked past Aizen to the hooded figure. She touched the hood and pulled it. She saw Raven's hair, but when the figure turned around, she jumped. It wasn't Raven. It was some sort of Arrancar that looked like Raven. The mask covered the entire top of her face and the right side of her face. There were four glowing red eyes under four slits on the mask. The part covering her right side had fangs where the mouth is. "Raven? What happened to you?"'_

"_She wanted better power. I told her the only way was to become an Arrancar. She had refused at first, but she agreed after I showed her the true natures of her friends. You see, Orihime, the Hōgyoku has amazing abilities. Please consider my showing this as a symbol of my faith in you. Your power is the 'rejection of reality'." He walked over to the two and he took the cloak back from Orihime, wrapping it around Raven. "You can deny something that has happened, and erase that event from reality. It's truly a spectacular ability. I need that power…Orihime…" _

Just thinking about Raven like that…she couldn't believe it. Isn't Raven stronger than that? Shouldn't she be stronger than that? If her friends are coming…how will they react when they see her now…? "I doubt he showed the Hōgyoku because he trusts me. But at least I know where it is now. And I've learned about my powers now. I can deny something that's occurred and erase it from reality. Thank you for coming to save me, Ichigo. But I've discovered something that I need to do here…" She grips the pants' fabric nervously. "Something that only I'm capable of doing…I'll use my power to prevent the Hōgyoku from having ever been made. And I _will_ reverse what Aizen has done to Raven!"

Aizen is sitting in his room, chuckling to himself. "Come, Raven. We shall test out your powers on some of the Exequias Troops. After that, I'll introduce you to the rest of the Espada."

Raven, sitting on the ground, turns to Aizen, barely understanding anything now. Everything has been wiped clean, all her friends, all her experiences. The only thing she knows is to trust this man that goes by Aizen. And kill those he tells her to kill… "Yes…Aizen-sama…" she replies, standing up and following him into another room.

Ichigo's and Robin's Corridor

As Ichigo and Robin continue running, an Arrancar observes them. Before he can jump down and attack them, he hears rapid footsteps from behind. "-CHIGO! ICHIGO!" The two males turn around and to their utter shock and surprise, Nel is chasing after them.

"Nel?" They yell in unison. "What're you doing here? Go home!"

"I-I wanted to see you, I-Ichigo! You meanie!" She leaps at him.

"You pest! Damn!" Ichigo stops, getting Robin to stop behind Ichigo. "Ok, come on! I'll do a catch and release!" Suddenly, Nel's mask's eyes glow and she head-butts Ichigo in the stomach at super speed. With the force from Nel's barrel roll, Ichigo crashes into Robin as well. "You little…brat!" Ichigo mutters, recovering from the sudden head butt.

Robin helps Ichigo up and says, "What is up with this girl? It's pretty hard to get rid of her."

"I know…but we can't help it. By the way, where are they?" Ichigo asks, turning to Nel.

"Who?"

"Those two guys you were with."

"Oh, you mean Dondochakka and Pesche. I bet they're right behind me!" She turns around, but with no sign that they're coming, she freaks out. "THEY'RE LOST! DONDOCHAKKA AND PESCHE ARE LOST!"

"Uh, I think you're the one that's lost…" Robin begins. Suddenly, both of them sense a strange reiatsu. With Robin still new at reiatsu-detecting, he can't distinguish the location.

But Ichigo is glaring upwards. "Get out here. I know you're hiding over there! Now show yourself!" The figure leaps from block after block. The three of them follow after the man. "Come back here! Stop running!"

"Who said I was running?" the man asks ominously. He lands on one block and slips unexpectedly, crashing into the ground.

The three stare at the dust cloud and the man stands up. "Hey…um…are you ok?" Robin asks, taking a step forwards him. A finger suddenly points at him and the voice begins chanting.

"Jyan! Jyan! Jyan! Jyan!" He coughs for a few moments and continues the chant. A man with black hair emerges from the smoke. He has a van-dyke beard and mustache and his hair resembles a pair of "horns". His hollow mask is a small plate on his forehead that has horns mirroring those in his hair. Ichigo, Nel, and Robin stare at him uninterestedly. With the awkward silence in the air, the man opens his eyes realizing that they are just staring at him. "Wait a minute! What're you making that face for?"

He repeats his question twice before Ichigo says, "Shut up…Quit saying the same thing over and over…"

"You just bore witness to the great Dordoni's graceful entrance scene!" The man complains.

"Graceful? Didn't you just trip?" Robin asks.

"How can you two act so calm after watching such a performance?" Dordoni demands.

"We're not acting. What you see is what you get," Ichigo retorts.

"And you, the little brat! At least look at me!" He continues, referring to Nel. She continues ignoring him and he straightens up. "Oh, well, whatever. I'll just have to accept that our tastes are different. It hardly matters since you're about to be killed. Now, prepare yourself, Shinigami and Human! I, Dordoni-sama, Arrancar No. 103, will crush you!"

"103? Isn't that a pretty high number?" Ichigo asks Nel.

"Didn't you say that they usually have only two digits?" Robin asks.

"Yeah, they're supposed to have 2. I've never heard of ones with 3."

"Hey! What are you three whispering about? Don't look so exasperated!"

"You seem kind of, well, really weak…" Ichigo and Robin say bluntly to him.

"Excuse me? Why don't you find out whether or not I'm weak? You'll pay for that little comment, Niño! He jumps towards Ichigo as Robin pulls out a freeze disc.

_Meanwhile…_

"Oh, ya spyin' on 'em?" Gin asks, entering Tōsen's control room. "That isn't a good habit, Tōsen-san."

"That's a bit hypocritical," Tōsen remarks. "You were interested in how they were doing and came here to check on them, too, Gin.

"Come on now, I was joking! Don't act so scary-like!" Gin takes a step into the room, only to be grabbed by something. He glances down and sees Wonderweiss glaring at him. "Tōsen-san, do something about this kid, would ya?" Tōsen says his name, enough to tell Wonderweiss to let go of Gin. "He's fond of ya, isn't he?"

"Those with pure intentions are drawn to each other. However, I haven't been able to figure out what his intentions apply to."

"I see! Makes sense that he doesn't get along well with me."

"Any intelligent person would be wary of you. Even some unintelligent people are still wary of you…At any rate, take a look at this. They've split up in pairs, except for Rukia Kuchiki."

"Oh! You're right! Splitting up will lower their chances of winning! I wonder if those kids really understand their own strength levels."

"Indeed. And they've stumbled upon an interesting area."

"Ah, that's the Tres Cifras' den…" Gin agrees, his trademark fox-grin plastered on his face.

Dordoni's Lair

Blood splatters across Robin's shoulder as well as Ichigo's. "Ichigo! Robin!" Nel exclaims as Robin grips his wound.

"No way!" Ichigo mutters under his breath. Robin grabs his bo staff, hoping the blood loss won't bother his fight against Dordoni.

"_Tres?" Wonderweiss asks._

"_Yes. You probably don't know about it since you're new. I'll tell you all about it…"_

Ichigo leaps backwards. "Getsuga Tenshō!" He unleashes his attack towards Dordoni.

"_Tres Cifras (Three digits). A three-digit number is a sign that an Arrancar has been demoted. They are the ones who have had their original ranks revoked. In other words, those with a three-digit number are called Privaron Espada."_

Dordoni easily kicks the attack upwards, kicking it in half, shocking Ichigo. "My, my. Didn't your mama ever teach you…not to judge a book by its cover…Niño?"

_Meanwhile, Starfire and Uryū are running down a corridor. They enter a room with a bunch of pillars. "Watch out!" Uryū warns Starfire as a disc attached to a chain spins towards them. They dodge and look up at the figure. Chad and Cyborg go into a room glowing in a fluorescent light, encountering another Privaron Espada._

"We are called Privaron Espada!" Dordoni explains to the two boys. "It means 'one who lost his place as an Espada'. Yes. To put it another way, anyone with a three-digit number, like me, used to be an Espada. We're the next powerful group here besides the current Espada." He lets it sink in for a moment before continuing, "Do you understand how strong I really am now…Niño?" Dordoni raises his leg and slams it down, only to be blocked by Ichigo's Zanpakutō. Ichigo pushes him back as they prepare for the next attack. Robin pulls out a birdarang, throwing it at Dordoni. With him distracted by it, Robin charges towards him with his bo staff in hand.

"Wait, Robin! Don't!" Ichigo warns, right as blood splatters from Robin's left shoulder. He yells in pain and Dordoni kicks him in the stomach, making him smash through the wall. "Robin!"

Dordoni turns towards Ichigo and runs towards him. "What's wrong, Niño? Shocked that I managed to injure your friend so easily?" He aims a flying kick towards Ichigo, who ducks in time. Dordoni pushes Ichigo upwards, making him break through the wall as well. Ichigo looks down, trying to find his footing. "You shouldn't have to look down to find your footing!" Dordoni advices above Ichigo. He kicks Ichigo in the stomach, pushing him into the wall. Dordoni lands and sighs, annoyed. "Your movements are slow and your defense is weak. You can't even deal with a change in scenery. I can't fight with you. It's like fighting a baby!" Dordoni notices Robin struggling to get up. "And you. You have no special power, yet you insist to continue fighting?"

Robin looks up, glaring at Dordoni. He imagines his Hollow mask on his face and it begins forming, mildly surprising Dordoni. Robin leaps towards Dordoni, his bo staff turning into a sword. _"You can change your bo staff into other weapons," Shinji had told him. "You just have to visualize the weapon in your hand and you'll get it to turn into that. Come on, let's try it out."_

"What's this, Niño? I did not know you had this ability!" Dordoni comments, ducking from Robin's attack. "Does that Niño have the ability too?"

"Nope, it's just me!" Robin replies, his voice sounding like Red X. _"I've only got about 3 minutes. I HAVE to finish it!"_

"Oho! But I wonder…how long you can keep it up!" Dordoni unleashes a barrage of kicks to Robin, who blocks them all with his sword. Robin evades a kick to the face and changes his weapon into another sword, making it look similar to Ichigo's. Robin swings it to Dordoni, who easily catches it. Robin changes it into a claw, his hand grabbing Dordoni's arm. He immediately throws an ice disc at Dordoni, encasing him in ice.

The moment Dordoni freezes, Robin's mask fades away, leaving a very exhausted teen. Ichigo lands next to Robin, helping him up. "Thanks for covering me," Ichigo thanks Robin.

"No…problem…But…it seemed…too easy…like he wasn't trying…at all…" Robin begins, his eyes widening as the ice cracks. Dordoni breaks out of the ice, shocking both teens.

"You two won't be able to defeat me at your current level. The mask surprised me, but it wasn't enough. Use your Bankai…Niño…" Dordoni suggests, looking at Ichigo.

"I refuse," he replies confidently.

"Why?"

"A Privaron Espada isn't a real Espada!"

"That's correct."

"That's why!" He uses Shunpo to get closer to Dordoni, attacking him relentlessly. "I have to defeat all of the Espada! I can't just use Bankai against everyone, especially if they're not Espada! So I'm going to defeat you without it!" He slams his Zanpakutō downwards, only to be blocked by his knee.

"I see. I understand how you feel. So I'm going to tell you something in return…" He grabs the Zanpakutō. "Don't take me lightly." He pushes Ichigo away and pulls out his sword halfway out of its scabbard. "Whirl, Giralda!"

Tornado-like winds swirl around, enveloping Dordoni. "Damn! He can release his Zanpakutō without even drawing it?"

"What are you doing? Take your stance!" Dordoni demands. The winds break, revealing him at the center of the winds. He has grown large horns on his shoulders and armor that starts at his feet, wrapping around his calves, and jutting out at his waist with two more spikes. His mask also extended, framing his face. "Here we go, Giralda!" Cyclones begin coming out of the exhaust pipes on his legs. Ichigo immediately dashes to the side, hoping Dordoni will focus mainly on him. In an instant, one of the cyclones attack Robin and the other one crashes into Ichigo, slamming him into the ground.

Nel peeks out of the hole, surveying the ground. She notices Robin on the ground a few ways away from Ichigo with blood seeping out of his head and shoulders. She sees Ichigo in a crater, possibly unconscious. "Robin…and Ichigo…are gonna die!" she mutters, the left eye from her Hollow mask beginning to glow.

Meeting Room

All the Espada are sitting at the same seats as before, waiting for Aizen to arrive. "We leave the meeting room for a few hours and then he calls us back…He should just make up his mind!" Nnoitra complains to no one in particular.

"Aizen-sama managed to accomplish something and he wants us to see his accomplishment," Halibel begins, only for Nnoitra to glare at her.

"It better be freaking worth it…" He growls as Grimmjow glares at him. "What's wrong, Sexta? Worried about something, you big kitten?"

"What was that, you bastard?" Grimmjow begins standing up as the other Espada look at him.

"Enough fighting you two…I'm tired…" Starrk mutters, beginning to doze off. Suddenly, a strong, massive reiatsu covers the room, forcing Nnoitra and Grimmjow down into their seats.

"What the hell? Whose reiatsu is this?" Nnoitra yells, looking around. All the Espada look around, but Halibel, Starrk, Ulquiorra, and Baraggan sit there calmly, waiting for Aizen to come into the room.

"Just wait…" Starrk mumbles, sitting up. The door swings open and in walks Aizen. But instead of his usual cohorts, a hooded figure walks into the room wrapped in a blue cloak.

"I apologize for making you all come back here, but as you can see…" He gestures to the hooded figure. "I have a new member to introduce to you all. Usually, I would allow you to watch me change the Hollow into an Arrancar; however this particular one was a bit more difficult."

"Who is that hooded figure?" the dark-skinned Espada asks.

Aizen looks to his four top-ranked Espada. "Ladies and Gentlemen…I present to you…an Espada." All the Espada in the room get tense. When a new Espada is created, that means that one of them would become a Privaron.

"An Espada? Who's that one going to replace?" Nnoitra exclaims, standing up.

"Oh no, she's not going to be replacing anyone…"

"Another female? Tch, it's already hard enough with just one," Nnoitra complains, ignoring the death glare from Halibel.

"Please, remove your cloak…" Aizen turns towards the figure. He hears a low grunt, indicating that the figure heard him. Pale, gray hands grab the hood. Some of the Espada stare at the new teammate with disbelief. The one under the cloak is Raven. Aizen has added more features onto her. There is something like antlers wrapped around her head. Her hair is past shoulder-length and her teeth have fangs like Beast Boy. Now, the mask only covers the top part of her face, giving her a look similar to her father's. "Would you like to tell us your name?" He stops a smirk from splitting across his face as Nnoitra glares at her.

"…Arella…Arella Katsue…" She introduces, her four red eyes looking around at the present Espada.

"Show them your Espada tattoo…" Aizen commands her. Raven makes one part of her mask disappear, revealing a "3" over her two left red eyes. She allows the mask to reappear, covering the upper half of her face again.

"A…three? Haha! That means Halibel's no longer an Espada!" Nnoitra begins laughing in cheerful laughter only to get stopped by a hand.

"Oi! You're choking the bastard!" Yammy yells, grabbing Raven by her arm. She turns towards Yammy, glaring at him making him release her.

"Arella…please let him go. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Aizen says. Arella releases her hold on Nnoitra and somehow appears beside Aizen.

Nnoitra, gasping for breath, turns towards her. "You bitch!" He takes a step towards her, but Aizen's glare at him causes him to silence himself.

"She is new to you all. Please do not let her think of you poorly…" Aizen warns, mainly referring to Nnoitra and Grimmjow. "She is not going to replace Halibel. They will both be the Tercera Espada. I will need you all in the war and replacing you with Arella will be very difficult. Therefore, both Arella and Halibel shall share the same status," he explains.

"How do we know she's strong enough to be Tercera?" Nnoitra interjects, still glaring daggers at her.

"I suppose you can go out and see the dead bodies of the Exequias. She has also killed about half of Szayel Aporro's Números as well." He pauses, noticing Szayel Aporro gritting his teeth in anger. Nnoitra stops his arguing and sits back down. "Now then, I hope you will welcome her in your ranks. She will be a _very_ important asset when it comes to the war. Especially…against her friends. That is…if they survive that far…" He trails off, smirking. The Espada look at the supposed "important asset" and begin realizing that the strange reiatsu had come from her.

Oh yes…Arella Katsue will be a very important asset to the oncoming war… In Raven's clouded mind, the only other thing she can recall is one name. _Robin._

* * *

><p><strong>May: Ok, I feel like we're typing out crap now. Forgive me readers, but Lefty wanted Raven to turn out like this. If you have objections…well, just say so. We are sorry these next two chapters have been crap. But SOMEBODY has been out rallying with Varsity late again.<strong>

**Lefty: Who are you, my mom? I'm I-M-P-R-O-V-I-N-G with them, compared to Frosh. My longest rally against a Frosh was with one of our captains. I'm a bit ticked, sorry.**

**May: …Boba…don't forget the Boba tomorrow for the Varsity girls. Oh yeah, if you listen to "Fiesta de guerra" around the end, it matches the scene. That song is a Bleach song so you don't have to worry. Oh and Giralda means "Storm Baron."**

**Lefty: CIF! CIF! CIF! CIF! CIF!**

**May: …*facepalm* As long as you don't continue talking like that senior or that left-handed JV guy…I don't really care.**

**Lefty: Brosky~**

**May: *stares at her*…I hope she didn't hear that…she'd kill you…*ahem* Anyways, REVIEW! …So we can keep her from saying "Brosky" and "OH SHIT SON!" and whatever else that guy says…**


	9. Bravery's Little Chat

**WAHOO! *sings happily to Bolero, Choosy Lover, Long Way, Break Out, and Stand by U***

**May: …Ok…I think I'm going to have to answer questions again. As you can see, I am the calmer one between the two of us…Those songs are DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki, whichever one you know. They're the same singers. But "Long Way" is JYJ, which is after they broke up…Good god, I am such a nerd about these singers…IT'S YOUR FAULT, LEFTY! *ahem* This girl is probably hyper because of CIF…and other things…Like the fact that this story has reached the 20+ reviews, this is a big accomplishment because she rarely gets this many reviews. Thank you to all our reviewers. Ah yes, we are sorry for forgetting to include comments for you, Tensa Zangetsu 17-san.**

**Fanamaniac: This is the first time Lefty has had such a faithful supporter. We are honored. Lefty thought of it last minute as she was writing the story. Such a peaceful name for a supposed dangerous Espada. Heh. We shall try to draw it and then we'll send it via you-know-what. She has started a sketch of it…And she just threw it away…ok…this is going to take a while.**

**Patattack: Again, Lefty thought of that idea last minute. She wanted Robin to seem super awesome, instead of knocked unconscious after the first punch. I mean, come on that's weak…Is the story during the Fullbring arc or rescuing Rukia arc? The idea piques my interest, but I am not sure about Lefty. We'll see how the first chapter turns out. Good luck. Please, reviews are always welcome. **

**Tensa Zangetsu 17: Um…what are you talking about? Aizen didn't kill Halibel. Unless you're talking about in the later part of the series…**

**Ultrawolfie: Well, be glad when exams are over. Well, Lefty and I both do not want to kick you out of the Espada, Halibel. And kicking out any other Espada would ruin everything. I dare not guess…Then again, things can change in 7 years. Maybe something happened in those 7 years. I can't believe Gildarts skipped out on them…He has been giving us quite a lot of false alarms. I guess Mashima-san doesn't want Makarov to kick the bucket yet…**

**Mex2girl: I could read your mind...Well we are making the story flow along the Hueco Mundo arc and then the Karakura Town arc. It took Lefty and I a while to think of a very ominous mask for her. Aizen wants to show the Titans that she no longer "trusts them" and therefore, changing her name proves her…allegiance to Aizen.**

**Arella is Raven's mother and Katsue came from a game that Lefty plays. She combined it and it became Arella Katsue. We couldn't think of anything else. And Starfire has now added honorifics to people's names, except for her teammates.**

**Disclaimer: The only things Lefty owns are two pandas and a really decorated shirt. Meaning, SHE DOES NOT OWN BLEACH!**

**Warning: …Spoilers…I think I've said enough…**

**As Lefty says: "ON WITH THE STORY~"**

_Recap_

_Raven's been transformed. Transformed into an Arrancar and is now the Tercera Espada along with Halibel. Aizen plans to use her against the Gotei 13 in the upcoming war. The only thing that Arella Katsue, otherwise known as Raven, can remember before she was transformed is a name. Robin. Meanwhile, Ichigo and Robin are struggling against a Privaron Espada named Dordoni. Even though he's lost his status as an Espada, he is as formidable as a regular Espada. Now, Dordoni insists on getting Ichigo to release his Bankai and fight at full power. With Ichigo's stubborn refusal, both he and Robin could die…_

Renji's and Beast Boy's Corridor

Renji looks up, noticing a reiatsu signature. "This reiatsu…it's Ichigo's…Damn! The other reiatsu with him seems pretty strong. And then there's your leader's reiatsu. It seems to be weakening."

"Um…what does that mean, exactly?" Beast Boy asks, confused.

"That means…they're in trouble."

"Then we've got to go and help them!" Beast Boy stops, beginning to dash the other way. He freezes, sensing another reiatsu. "Dude, there's some weird rei…whatever it is coming to us! Whose is it?" Dondochakka's face comes into view, shocking both Renji and Beast Boy. "Holy! Aaaaahhh!" He runs as fast as possible with Renji right behind him. "What the hell is up with this guy?"

"Don't know, just keep running!" Renji warns. He turns around to Dondochakka. "Don't sneak up on us like that! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ne-! Ne!" He begins. "Nel! I'm looking for Nel!"

"Then why the hell are you following us?" Beast Boy yells. "You lost? You're lost, aren't you?"

Dondochakka asks where Nel is again. "HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW?" Renji yells. "You really are lost! I thought this was weird. There's no good reason for you to follow us!"

"Nel! Nel chased after Ichigo! I have to find her!"

"Shut the hell up! She's as safe with Ichigo as she is with anyone else! And quit crying, it's creepy!"

"Th-that's not it! If I…If I don't hurry and find Nel…If I don't find her…Nel!" Dondochakka suddenly yells, shocking both of them into running faster. "Come back!" He chases after them. "Come back! Why are you two running from me?"

"Because you're chasing us! It's instinct! That face of yours is scaring the crap out of me!" Renji insults as Beast Boy dashes on ahead. "Damn it, you green snot! WAIT FOR ME! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THIS THING!"

Dordoni's Lair

Dordoni had knocked Robin unconscious, now he's focusing on Ichigo. The cyclones continue their onslaught on the exhausted Shinigami. He barely has time to block them with his Zanpakutō. He crashes into the ground and the cyclone slams into his body. Dordoni forces Ichigo upwards and continues his attack. "Come on! Come on, come on, come on, _come on_! Use your Bankai, Niño! Otherwise you'll die! You're trying to fight me and conserve your reiatsu at the same time? I can't fathom why you'd even consider such a plan. It's ridiculous!" Finally, he has the cyclone grab Ichigo with its mouth, suspending Ichigo in the air. "You're being thickheaded, Niño! Use your Bankai. I want to you at full strength! Your comrade didn't hold back anything. Now he's lying there on the ground!" Dordoni gestures to Robin.

Ichigo catches his breath, pointing Zangetsu at the cyclone. "**Getsuga…Tenshō!**" The cyclone is destroyed and Ichigo lands on the ground.

"Not bad, I must admit. But, you understand now, don't you? There's no way you can win in your current state."

"That's what you think."

"I don't assume. I stated a fact!" His cyclones attack Ichigo and one of it swallows him. He breaks free and Dordoni moves in, kicking Ichigo. He grabs Ichigo. "I'll keep this up until you decide to use it. This is tough on me too. Well, it's annoying, at least. I want to see your Bankai. But if you keep holding back, you'll die! And then all your efforts will have been for nothing!" Dordoni kicks him into the wall again.

Ichigo gets up and slams his Zanpakutō at Dordoni. "**Getsuga**-!"

But Dordoni pushes the Zanpakutō back, yelling, "I told you not to insult me, Niño!" He shoves Ichigo backwards. "Naughty children…have to be punished!" He forms an upside-down pentagon as the reiatsu begins charging. "Cero!" The cero comes towards Ichigo and he braces himself just as the attack is about to hit him. He opens his eyes and sees Nel blocking it somehow. "She stopped my…Cero?" Dordoni waits for a minute and realizes that Nel is swallowing the Cero. With all of it gulped down, he shockingly yells, "You've got to be kidding!" Nel tries to hold it in, but she suddenly regurgitates the Cero at Dordoni.

Nel, panting, warns Dordoni, "Don't…be mean…to Ichigo!" In the smoke, Dordoni shoots a Bala straight at Nel.

Knocking her unconscious, Dordoni steps out of the smoke, injured. "I don't know who you are, bebé, but you're something else. I'm amazed that you could reflect my Cero, especially in my Resurección form. But, your mischief-making went a little bit too far, didn't it? Disappear!" He makes one of the cyclone go towards her. But Ichigo, realizing something, slices the cyclone in half and injuring Dordoni in the process.

"If you want to see it that badly…then I'll show you…" Ichigo tells Dordoni, holding Nel. "The wait's over, old man. This is my Bankai."

"I see. I've been looking forward to this, Niño."

"Ichigo…" Nel stops, coughing in pain.

Ichigo's grip on Nel tightens. "Sorry, Nel. I made you suffer because I was being stubborn over something stupid. If I'm going to fight the Espada on equal footing, I can't just use my Bankai on anyone else. I decided that before I came here. That was so stupid of me…"

"Are you sure? You set up your own guidelines for how to fight. Anyone who wishes to become strong has to do that. I thought it was wonderful."

"It's not important enough to let my friends get hurt over it," Ichigo replies, glancing over to Robin who is stirring.

"So your goal isn't to become stronger, then? Strength is just a means to protect your friends? You're so kind, Niño. You're almost like a saint. But, you can become even stronger…I know about your ability to become a Hollow. We've got records of all your fights in the real world. Supposedly, this 'Hollow Transformation' gives you an explosive burst of strength and speed. Use that power!" Dordoni insists, making the cyclone attack Ichigo. He easily blocks it and then destroys it. "Very nice, your reiatsu is impressive. However…I've already told you…" He uses Sonído and reappears behind Ichigo. "I want to fight you at full strength! I'll do whatever it takes, Niño!" With Ichigo distracted with the cyclone, Dordoni closes in on Nel.

"ICHIGO! LOOK OUT!" Ichigo hears Robin warn and he notices Dordoni.

Before Dordoni can lay a hand on Nel, Ichigo slices his finger. "Bastard!"

"What's wrong? Are you angry, Niño? What's there to be mad about? Your goal is to protect your friends and mine is to defeat you when you're at full strength. In order to accomplish my goal, I have to target that bebé instead of you. That's all there is to it."

Ichigo grits his teeth and glares at Dordoni. "Don't you have any shame?"

"I do! I'm ashamed that I haven't been able to get my opponent to fight with everything he has!" More of the cyclones begin forming. "There's nothing more embarrassing than that, Niño."

"Fine…" Ichigo places Nel down and tells her, "Nel, back up a little. Right there is good. I won't let a fragment of reiatsu past me…I promise." Ichigo looks down and black reiatsu begins gathering towards him. "I'll warn you, you'll only get to see it for a second."

"That's enough," Dordoni replies, noticing Robin getting up as well. "Are you going to help him fight too, pájaro?" Robin shakes his head, as Ichigo gathers more reiatsu.

"Stand back, Robin…" Ichigo puts his hand over his face and the reiatsu forms his Hollow mask.

Ichigo's reiatsu increases immensely and Dordoni laughs off his surprise and fear. "Wonderful! What wonderful reiatsu! I never expected I'd be able to fight against such a wonderful opponent, Niño! Now, let's go at it with our full power, Niño!" In an instant, Ichigo's Zanpakutō slices from Dordoni's shoulder to his abdomen, shocking him. "What…happened?"

Ichigo puts his hand on his mask again. "Didn't I tell you? Only for a second…" The mask vanishes, and Ichigo looks at Dordoni.

"How…regrettable…" Dordoni mutters, collapsing. _"I already knew…Once he obtained the Hōgyoku, he wouldn't need any of the original Espada. I knew that when I first decided to follow Aizen-dono…But…"_ A liquid drops on time of Dordoni's left eye, waking him up. His vision refocuses and sees Nel's vomit splashing onto his face. "What? What the hell are you doing?" He exclaims, backing up as quickly as possible.

"I'm drooling on you," she says matter-of-factly.

"I already figured that out! Why the hell are you covering me in spit?"

"Quiet down…What are you upset about, Don Panini?" Ichigo asks nonchalantly. Robin is sitting beside him, resting up from his wounds.

"I'm Dordoni! Why are you calling me that tasty-sounding name?"

Ichigo kneels down and pats Nel's head. "Although it's pretty weak, her saliva has healing abilities. Right, Nel?"

"That's right! That's why I did this!" She shoves her hand down her throat and more "saliva" comes out, shocking Dordoni. "It's drool!"

"That's not spit! It's puke!"

"When I touch the thing in the back, a lot of spit comes out."

"That's puke! And a lady shouldn't be saying something like that!" After a while, Ichigo manages to stop Nel and leaves Dordoni lying down. "I've lost…completely and decisively…My body was filled with power, and my heart was filled with the will to win. I truly believed I was ready for you, that I could endure any attack you tried and counter it. I never let my guard down…And yet…I…never saw it coming…" He reflects to the three. "You're strong…both of you…"

The two glance in a different direction. "I wouldn't say that…" Robin mutters. "I couldn't even protect her…"

"I wanted to be an Espada again," Dordoni begins. "The Espada are Aizen-dono's faithful servants. Aizen-dono probably doesn't even consider the Espada as his weapons. I know that…But, those who have been at the top can never forget the view. It felt so wonderful there…I thought that if I could defeat you at your full power, Aizen-dono would recognize my strength…and I could return to my place as an Espada…That's why I forced you to transform into a Hollow. And those desires…haven't changed at all!" Dordoni unsheathes his sword, shocking Ichigo and Robin.

"I told you it was a bad idea to heal him!" Robin mutters, struggling to get up.

"Why are you surprised? Healing your enemy despite knowing nothing about him…You should have expected a counterattack! Am I wrong?" Dordoni warns. Robin manages to get up and pulls out his bo staff.

"Wait! You guys haven't recovered enough to be moving around!" Ichigo insists. Robin leans against the wall as Dordoni charges towards Ichigo.

"Injuries can't affect my will to win! Physical wounds mean nothing in the face of true determination! You're as soft as a marshmallow, Niño! Even that new Espada would have killed me in cold blood!" In an instant, Dordoni's sword is destroyed and blood spurts out of his body. Robin and Ichigo are standing by the exit and Dordoni grins. Ichigo glances at Dordoni before both of them leave. Suddenly, a group of Arrancars appear in front of Dordoni. They all look the same except for the one in the middle. He has a bull-shaped skull, concealing his face. "Welcome, Exequias."

"We have orders to subdue the injured invaders," the leader of the Exequias states.

"Whose orders?" Dordoni interrogates

"I cannot say," Rudbornn states.

"I assume you'd like to get past me…"

"Your sword is broken, and you shouldn't be able to release it." He grabs his sword, beginning to unsheathe it. "Surely, you don't believe you stand a chance against us in such a state. Even if we have lost about half our men."

Dordoni mockingly grins and threatens, "Watch your mouth, jovenzuelo (youngster)!" He takes a battle pose. _"I'm glad you escaped in time…If you hadn't countered my final attack, you'd both still be here. My strength has deteriorated…"_ The Exequias start coming towards him. _"You probably could have defeated me without turning into a Hollow…Both of you would have defeated me…But you both transformed for my sake…You still did it, knowing it would sap your strength." _He braces himself. "I'm grateful…" He charges towards the Exequias as well.

_"This is the least I can do to thank you! The other people here aren't as kind as I am! Niño…don't hesitate to attack your enemies. Don't hesitate to deliver the finishing blow…And for God's sake, don't heal your enemies' wounds, Niño!"_ Rudbornn injured Dordoni and he grabs Rudbornn by the collar, attempting to land a fatal blow. _"Become the Devil himself!"_ The other Exequias stabs him in various places, stopping him. _"Become a demon! Be as strong and as wicked as one! You must learn that the only way to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself. Otherwise…Niño…" _Dordoni drops his sword, succumbing to all his wounds.

_Meanwhile…_

Chad and Cyborg collapse on their knees, panting in front of their Privaron opponent. Uryū and Starfire are on the ground, looking up towards their opponent. "Damn…" Uryū mutters.

"I have an update on the situation. We've just received word that Privaron Espada No. 103,Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, was killed by the invaders," an Arrancar reports to Gin and Aizen.

"I see…" Aizen stands up and looks at the Arrancar. "It was a bit harder for him than I had thought it would be…I assumed defeating someone at Dordoni's level would have been far easier. Even the both of them struggled…Oh well…But there's one thing you've failed to report, isn't there?" Aizen pauses, increasing his reiatsu. "Who ordered the Exequias after him?" The Arrancar stumbles under his reiatsu. "What's wrong? Was the question too difficult for you?"

"It was me, Aizen-sama," The pink-haired Espada confesses, walking into the room.

Aizen lowers his reiatsu and questions, "You…Szayel Aporro?"

Szayel Aporro instantly kneels down. "My humblest apologies! I wanted to take advantage of him being injured, to make sure we killed him. So I gave the order myself. Even though I did it for you, Aizen-sama, I realize I acted out of turn. Therefore, I am prepared to receive any punishment you see fit to administer."

"…No…I don't mind," Aizen begins, surprising Szayel Aporro. Aizen sits down on his chair. "Just as long as you have a good reason. I don't consider this a sin."

"Thank you very much!" Szayel Aporro stands up, turning around to leave. "Please excuse me."

"However, in the future, I'd appreciate it if your reports were more detailed, Szayel Aporro. Will the reiatsu recordings on the invaders that you took from Dordoni help with your research?" Aizen asks, shocking Szayel Aporro.

"Yes."

"Really? That's good to hear." With that, Szayel Aporro leaves.

"You seem to be having lots of fun, even though one of your subordinates got killed," Gin notices.

Aizen stands up and looks out to Hueco Mundo. "Do I look so happy?"

"Am I wrong? You're excited about those kids being here, winning fight after fight, heading our way. And then there's the fact that you managed to convince her to become an Arrancar. Imagine when they see her the way she is now…It seems like you're having fun with all of this."

"Am I having fun? I wonder…I suppose I do feel something akin to that emotion." He turns towards Gin. "Do you find that odd, Gin?"

"'Course not. I feel the same way! Although…" He turns to a shadow that is lurking around. "You don't seem to be having fun…Arella…"

Arella, hearing her name, steps into view. "Arella, please go with Ulquiorra. He will give you orders against the intruders." She grunts and leaves the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

She heads down the corridor, stopping momentarily. "…Robin…" She mutters.

Uryū and Starfire

The pair barely manages to dodge the weapon the Privaron Espada is using. A girl with short purple-colored hair with light purple teardrops on her cheek is standing above them, laughing. Her Hollow mask remnants are positioned in her hair right above the left side of her forehead and resemble a spiked hairpin. They dodge the attack again and hide behind two pillars, catching their breaths.

"Hiding won't save you!" The Privaron tells them. "How many times do I have to tell you? There's no chance of you getting away from-" Uryū and Starfire move to different pillar. The Privaron notices an arrow coming towards her. She narrowly dodges the starbolt and blocks the arrow with her weapon. "…From me. Don't attack when I'm trying to talk. You don't have much of a delicate touch, do you?" She glares Uryū, who has moved from behind the pillars. "Geez, I hope all human men aren't like you!" She swings the Zanpakutō at Uryū, but he dodges it making it slam into the pillar behind him. "Don't keep running, you weirdo!"

"I don't want to hear that from you!" Uryū retorts, dodging the weapon continuously. Uryū glances upwards and notices red hair. Starfire slams a sword-like starbolt down on the Privaron, but she leaps to another pillar. Starfire destroys the pillar and flies upwards, trying to get an opening.

"Hmph, two-on-one isn't exactly fair, is it? Besides, what's with that sword of yours? It looks just like those balls of energy you keep shooting at me."

"This is not a sword. It is my starbolt. I taught myself this because I did not get to train with Shinji-san," Starfire explains, remembering Shinji's lesson. Almost immediately, the Privaron's weapon slams into Starfire, catching her off guard and knocking her into a pillar.

"Starfire!" Then the Privaron swings the Zanpakutō towards Uryū. He barely notices it coming towards him and resorts to blocking with his bow.

"I know that's not a shield, so don't push your luck!" She pulls the hilt of her Zanpakutō upwards, making it break the bow and slicing his shoulder in the process. He uses Hirenkyaku and moves back, kneeling by the entrance. He swears under his breath as something gleams behind him.

_Meanwhile…_

"Are you heading out somewhere?" Apache asks Arella, who came into the room to grab a few things.

Arella grabs a black sword and sheathes it into its scabbard. "Aizen-sama says to go with Ulquiorra," she states, getting the scabbard to attach it to her left hip. She turns to Apache, her supposed roommate. "Did you need something?"

"No." Apache is still seething. Halibel-sama had told the three of them to watch Raven to make sure she doesn't do anything. They decided that Apache would get first watch. Apache was reluctant at first, but after Halibel's reasoning, she agreed.

"Something wrong?" Arella asks. Apache frustratingly shakes her head. "I may not remember everything before I became Aizen-sama's servant, but I do know that I can sense feelings. Apache-san…" Apache flinches, sensing a murderous aura around Arella. "So I hope you don't think negatively of me…" Arella glares at her from under her mask and turns towards the door. She heads to Orihime's room, where she's supposed to meet Ulquiorra. "Ulquiorra-sama…" He leaves the room and they head towards Gin first before going to Ichigo.

"You look concerned about something," Ulquiorra notices.

Arella grips the scabbard and answers, "When…Aizen-sama told me that we were going to Robin and Ichigo…the names just kind of rang some…distant bells. As if I've…worked together with them before."

"But what do you see afterwards?" Ulquiorra asks, leaving a mental note to tell Aizen-sama later.

"…I was abandoned by them. An…Arrancar almost killed me, but Aizen-sama saved me…So, they abandoned me and decided I was worthless?" Arella explains, still unsure.

"_It seems Aizen-sama showed her his Kyōka Suigetsu…"_ Ulquiorra ponders. "We are getting close to his Control Room."

Arella nods, releasing her grip on her scabbard. She places her left hand on her cheek and the rest of her mask forms, changing it. Now, the mask has two slits for her eyes and one little slit for her mouth. "I will kill them all…They betrayed me…They despised me…They abandoned me…" She pauses, hearing a voice sounding just like hers.

"_Did they really do all that? Or was it all just a ploy by that ass Aizen?"_ A girl looking just like her appears in her mind. The only difference is that she doesn't have the mask and her cape is green. _"Listen to yourself. Do you really think your friends would betray you?"_

"What are you talking about? Aizen-sama told me they abandoned me."

"_I don't believe that crap, Raven,"_ the girl replies.

"It's not crap, it's true. And my name isn't Raven. It's Arella Katsue," she insists.

"_Yeah sure, and I'm not Bravery, one of your emotions!"_ The green-cloaked Raven retorts, pouting.

"My emotions? What are you talking about? This is the first time I've seen something like this inside my mind."

Bravery continues staring at "Arella." _"You really don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore…do you?"_ Arella stares at her through her mask. _"Alright, come with me. I'm going to show you the other emotions that you should remember."_ Arella stands there, immovable. _"What's wrong, Raven?"_

"First of all, I told you, my name is Arella Katsue. And second of all, I only follow orders given to me by Aizen-sama," she replies, shocking Bravery. The two stare at each other for a long time before Bravery glances away momentarily.

Bravery scoffs and glares at Arella_. "Fine, __**Arella**__,"_ she mutters with frustration. _"When you see Robin and you get a massive headache, don't blame me. I tried to warn you. Go ahead, see if I care. I'll tell you this one last time: _**Don't…trust…that bastard…Aizen…**" Arella, frustrated with this green-cloaked twin, pulls out her black sword and swings it at Bravery. She ducks to the side and immediately disappears. _"I tried to help you, Raven…Let Rage take over and your friends won't know who you are anymore...Fight his influence…Raven…"_

Arella blinks open her eyes, wondering about that conversation. "…Is what she said…true?" She pauses, and mutters help. "Robin…please…help me…"

* * *

><p><strong>May: …Ok, it's crap again…Sorry readers, but this girl only likes writings scenes of ArellaRaven and what's happening to her. But since this story is the general stuff of Hueco Mundo and Fake Karakura Town arc, we have to keep it towards other fighters. But I am DEFINITELY skipping that Infinite Slick crap that Pesche does and anything else that we feel will take forever to type out. So we'll see how this turns out.**

**Lefty: We got to play Ninja again~ ^^**

**May: You and the JV captain were having your own battle…And you ended up in an awkward position..,**

**Lefty: Haha…yuuup XD Although, I think I pulled something or my muscles just hurt because of the awkward position I was in. It felt like I was doing Freeze Lunges…**

**May: …I am excited for Thursday. **

**Lefty: Whatever for?**

**May: CIF Semi-finals, no?**

**Lefty: Oh yeah! Oh and Fanamaniac, never had the time to draw Raven's main mask. I'll draw it when I remember…**

**May: You mean when you FINALLY decide to start doodling again.**

**Lefty: Quiet you. Sorry about these last few chapters. They have been such crap. I'll try to improve. Reviews and suggestions are always welcome~ Ta-ta for now~**


	10. The Hunt

***sighs* Tennis is coming to an end…going to go to regular PE…*SIGHS*…**

**May: Ok…for the past four chapters, you give me a headache being all hyper. And now…you're all GLOOMY? Um…at least you'll see them again next year since they intend to come back. Since as one senior said, "I mean, after Tennis, I'll be a major fatass." So she'll be back during the summer…being selective though. But still…she better not really just sit there sitting boba…watching you suffer during Hell Week…And if you know who said this quote or if it IS you…don't kill Lefty nor tell the senior…Anyways, I shall reply to reviews once again…**

**Ultrawolfie: I am still waiting for you to update. I'm patient, but Lefty is continuously checking her mail to see if you updated…Bravery is one of Raven's emotions. Or "emoticlones" as some fans refer to them as. The only difference is that they have a different-colored cloak. I say Bravery is her best emotion. There's Rage, Rudeness, Intelligence, Love, Happy, Sad, etc. You get the idea. Intelligence is the only one with an accessory.**

**Fanamaniac: Would you like me to shoot you? *takes out gun* Just say the word and I shall do so. Anyways, she'll have them do more action…eventually. Again, she likes to do scenes involving Arella/Raven. Just imagine Cyborg saying that "green snot" line. That's how Lefty got the idea for Renji to say that. I think she's given up on trying to draw it. She tried it this one time in Biology because she was bored and she had no work. She kept erasing it…so…I think she's given up on it. She could ask *does totem pose* to do it. If you get what I mean by that…Oh great, Lefty's got me started doing it too…**

**Tensa Zangetsu 17: Every time I have a character have amnesia, they ALWAYS have doubt. I can never get them to be completely brainwashed…Oh and it's ok. Sometimes, people read too quickly. I get that problem too. But it kind of shocked me since I didn't have Halibel get killed at all…**

**Patattack: She thought it would look nice on Starfire. Let me know when you publish that story. I check your account about once a week and I haven't seen it.**

**Disclaimer: We WISH we could own this…**

**Warning: Spoilers. Need I go on?**

**As she always says: "ON WITH THE STORY~"**

_Recap_

_Ichigo realizes that he had to use his Bankai on Dordoni. They manage to defeat him and escape just in time as the Exequias appear. They exterminate Dordoni as Ichigo, Robin, and Nel continue on through Las Noches. Meanwhile, Uryū and Starfire are struggling in their battle with the female Privaron Espada. Meanwhile, Arella is on her way with Ulquiorra to stop Ichigo and Robin. But halfway there, Arella begins conversing with one of her emotions, Bravery. At the end of the conversation, Bravery warns Arella to watch out for Rage and allowing Aizen to control her. _

Excerpt from Chapter 9:

"_Fine, __**Arella**__. When you see Robin and get a massive headache, don't blame me. I tried to warn you. Go ahead, see if I care. I'll tell you this one last time: _**Don't…trust…that bastard…Aizen…**_I tried to help you, Raven…Let Rage take over and your friends won't know who you are anymore…Fight his influence…Raven…"_

-Nevermore-

Bravery walks back to her area, but stops when she hears a voice. "So how did the confrontation go, Bravery?" Another emotion appears, wearing glasses with yellow cloak.

"You don't even need to ask, Intelligence…She's not with me right now, is she?" Bravery angrily mutters, glaring at nothing in particular. "I tried to get her to meet the rest of us emotions, but she refused. She was adamant about being called Arella Katsue. Aizen…really did brainwash her." She pauses, punching the tree next to her. "It's Rage's fault! She was the one that distracted us. She's the one that let Raven become…_that_. We should've been more alert…We should've been…more cautious…"

"Bravery…" Intelligence mutters, taking a step closer. "We'll get the old Raven back. We just have to be patient. Her friends are on their way to help her." Bravery clenches her fists. "Let's go gather all the other emotions…That is…the ones that haven't been attacked by Aizen…"

Bravery straightens up and stares at Intelligence. "Wait, what are you talking about? Some of them were attacked?" Bravery freezes, realizing what Intelligence really means by "attacked". "You don't mean…he killed them…do you?"

"Aizen doesn't want some of the emotions getting in the way. His intention was to turn Raven into a pure killing machine. But he could only get some of us. He got Love, Sloth, and Rudeness; he could've have gotten more. I somehow survived; which is why Raven doesn't completely trust Aizen. He kept Rage, of course."

"That bastard! I'm going to kill him!" Bravery turns around, starting off somewhere. "I'm going to-!"

Intelligence grabs her shoulder. "Calm down, Bravery! If you keep this up, it'll be easier for Rage to kill you! We don't need that! Raven's already lost most of her emotions. There's only a few of us left. Happiness is somehow still alive. We should go to her domain and plan something out there." Bravery turns towards Intelligence with a sullen look on her face.

"…Alright." They head to Happiness's area as a few ravens fly away from them, off to somewhere else.

-Uryū and Starfire-

Starfire climbs out of the rubble and sees Uryū conversing with Pesche. But she notices the Privaron muttering something. "Uryū-kun, Pesche! Look out!" She flies over to them just as the Privaron releases her sword.

"Rip…Golondrina!" A huge dust cloud envelops the Privaron right when Starfire lands besides Pesche and Uryū. "What a reckless way of fighting! I hadn't fought in so long that I was even planning on taking it slow…" The smoke clears and the Privaron emerges with wings attached to her back. Her mask is now a beak-like headpiece with a large, feathery mane protruding from it, covering most of her body and trailing past her legs. "I will crush you! I, Arrancar No. 105, Cirucci Sanderwicci!"

Starfire produces her starbolt sword again, waiting for Cirucci to make a move. "Starfire, get back. This is dangerous…" Uryū warns her.

"I would not be here if I was scared of these fights. I shall help you fight," Starfire replies.

"Now then…which way would be the best for me to slice you from?" Immediately, one of her wings slam down on the three of them. They easily dodge and Starfire quickly flies towards Cirucci. Cirucci blocks Starfire with her wing and the starbolt sword shatters, shocking Starfire. Cirucci takes that chance to swat Starfire away, making her crash into another pillar. Uryū takes the opportunity to shoot a few arrows towards her, but they are blocked as well.

"_So they snapped! Just as I thought, those feathers have a high-speed impact on anything they touch. That vibrating sound I've heard for some time now is proof of that…"_ He turns to Pesche. "Pesche, I'm going to need more of your Infinite Slick!"

"Well! You really are hopeless. Without me, you wouldn't be able to do a thing! Watch this!" He turns his head towards Cirucci and tries to spit out his "slick" again, but fails. They begin arguing over it and Cirucci takes the opportunity to attack them from behind.

Cirucci laughs gleefully, but Uryū surprises her. "My reflexes…how are they?"

She sees Uryū on a pillar with Pesche on his back. "Ah, is that what you call Shunpo?"

"You're wrong. This is Hirenkyaku." He grabs Pesche by his shoulder. "Pesche, this might hurt a bit, but please bear with it. He flings Pesche off to the side and pins him down with an arrow.

"Hmph, Hirenkyaku huh? And how exactly…" Her wings detach and targets Uryū. "…Is that any different?"

Uryū shoots a few arrows at the closest feather, but they shatter again. _"Do all the blades severed from her body also carry that high-speed impact?"_

"Aw come on! I missed! That 'Shunpo' crap is really annoying!" Cirucci mocks him.

Uryū emerges from the smoke, deducing Cirucci's abilities. _"It reloads automatically, huh? As long as she has those feather-blades, there won't be any openings for me to fire a point-blank shot. And any long-distance shots I fire break on impact with the target…I have no choice!_

"Say goodnight, four-eyes!" Her feathers all come towards him as he pulls something out. Before they land on him, something slices them all in half. As they land, Cirucci notices Uryū spinning something with his hand. "What…is that?"

He stops the weapon and holds it out for Cirucci to see. "Too bad. I had planned on saving this for later." He points the weapon at Cirucci. "Now then…ready to continue?"

-Nevermore-

Bravery and Intelligence walk into Happiness's domain, expecting to see a brighter version of Raven's mind. But they freeze when they see the same old layout. No pink valley with yellow skies and pink clouds. Just the same dark and foreboding place. "What happened?" Bravery asks, looking around expecting a floating strawberry to pass by.

"When Aizen turned Raven into an Arrancar, it must have thrown this place out of whack. It might be harder to find Happiness…"

"Then why don't we split up?" Bravery suggests.

"That's not a good idea, Bravery. You know as well as I do that Rage could be keeping an eye on the remaining emotions. If we split up, it'll be easier for Rage to catch us. We just have to hope that Happiness knows we're here…" Bravery looks around, hoping Happiness would show up and fix her domain. "Strange…" Bravery turns towards Intelligence. "I sense Happiness in here…but there's another emotion…And I don't know who it is."

"Let's go look for that one." The two head towards the new emotion. Just as they reach the location, they see Happiness running towards them. "Happiness! There you are! Where have you-!" Bravery notices another cloaked figure, but one that she doesn't recognize. The emotion has a black cloak with red streaks around it. _"Who the hell is that?"_

"Get away from me!" Happiness yells, dodging and weaving boulders. She spots Bravery and Intelligence just standing there. "Don't just stand there! This emotion's gonna try and kill us!" She turns around, dodging the scythe from the emotion.

"Who the hell is that supposed to be?"

"This emotion must have been created by Aizen," Intelligence deduces. Happiness runs past them and they follow her. "Happiness! What is that emotion supposed to be?"

"She calls herself…**Bloodlust**…" Happiness explains as the scythe changes into a bow and arrows. "Oh come on!" She pulls them behind a rock just as an arrow whizzes past Intelligence's cloak. "Bravery! You're still alive!" She hugs Bravery. "I thought Intelligence and I were the last ones."

"Hold up, Happiness! It's just you and Intelligence left? The other emotions were killed?" Happiness moves back with a dejected look on her face.

"There might be a few emotions left…I think Innocence managed to hide out with Timid. But I've been with Jealousy and Arrogance since Aizen showed up here. That was when we ran into Bloodlust. She stared at us for a while and then said, 'Aizen-sama does not need Jealousy'. In that instant, Jealousy started writhing in pain. Arrogance and I tried to help her, but she evaporated into thin air. We started running, but Arrogance…she…" Happiness stops momentarily, trying to recall that traumatic scene. "…Bloodlust said that Aizen-sama might need Arrogance later in the future…so she…was absorbed into Bloodlust's weapon."

"Arrogance survived…but Jealousy didn't…" Bravery mutters.

"We have to move. Bloodlust is getting closer…" Intelligence warns. She turns towards the two with a determined look in her eyes. "You two go. I'll stay behind and distract Bloodlust."

"No, Intelligence! Bloodlust might decide that Aizen doesn't need you! Let me distract her. Aizen will need me to keep Raven fighting."

"Bravery, Aizen has Bloodlust now. I hate to admit it, but he doesn't need you anymore…Bloodlust and Rage are really the only two emotions Aizen needs. Eventually, we're all going to be hunted down. Once we're all gone…Raven's done for. Not even her friends can help her once that happens. I need you guys to try and find any other emotions. You might be able to find Timid and Innocence in Timid's big maze," Intelligence suggests.

"Then…we have to go stop Bloodlust ourselves! Maybe if we break that weapon of hers, all of the other emotions will come back! Besides, you're the only one that can sense other emotions! Let me go!" Happiness begins. Intelligence glances out from behind the rock and freezes. "Intelligence?"

Intelligence brings up a hand to silence Happiness. Then, she abruptly jumps out over the rock lunging at Bloodlust whom is right in front of the rock. "Intelligence! What the hell are you doing?" Bravery yells, seeing Bloodlust change the bow into a black sword. "Intelligence! Watch out!" Bloodlust swings the sword at Intelligence with a bloodthirsty grin, befitting that of her emotion.

-Uryū and Starfire-

"Don't mess with me!" Cirucci launches her sword towards Uryū.

Uryū stands there, calmly. "And you've got something else wrong as well. Seele Schneider Is not a sword…" He puts it on his bow, aiming it at Cirucci. "Quincy only use bows and arrows…I'm afraid this fight goes to me, Cirucci Sanderwicci. I believe you said that victory laid with whoever had the longest reach." He lets it fly and it slices her sword and pierces her.

It retracts and he picks it up, putting it away. Starfire flies over, a few gashes on her arms and one cut across her cheek. "Is she…dead?"

"No. The victor has the right to decide who lives and who dies. And for this fight, the victor is me. I pierced her Saketsu. It's the well where one's reishi comes from. Arrancar are really a Hollow's attempt on becoming more like a Shinigami. The structure of their souls should be very similar. She may consider being spared an insult…but I have no intention of behaving like her kind." Behind him, Starfire notices Cirucci shedding some tears in frustration. "Even if she tries to attack us again, she won't have the strength to fight us." Pesche and Uryū leave with Starfire flying behind them. She glances back to Cirucci one last time before taking the lead, lighting up the path with one of her starbolts.

Meanwhile, behind them, Cirucci's Resurección begin fading away. "Damn them!" She curses, her fist clenched. "He completely looked down on me!" A shadow looms over her.

"Cirucci Sanderwicci-sama…" Rudbornn stands above her with the rest of his Exequias troop behind him. "We have come for you. Please, do not resist."

She grits her teeth and utters two words, "Damn it…"

-Cyborg and Chad-

The two get thrown back into the wall. Cyborg struggles to get up as the Privaron begins mocking them, "Lame, dude. Guess you two weren't cut out to go against Arrancar No. 107, Gantenbainne Mosqueda." A man with a big, orange afro-style hair with thick side burns and a goatee emerges from the smoke. The remains of his Hollow mask are a sunglasses-shaped plate on his forehead with four teeth coming out above each eye. There is a star in the center of the mask fragment. The smoke begins spiraling and enveloping the two. Chad emerges from the smoke with his Right Arm of the Giant prepared to fight. Cyborg has his arm turned into a sonic cannon and he shoots it at Gantenbainne. "That won't work." He swats away the ray and grabs Chad's head. "Your little human punches won't connect if you can't even use Sonído!" He shoves Chad back and he collides with Cyborg.

Cyborg helps Chad get up and he starts charging his Hollow mask on, but Chad stops him. "No, we should fight him fairly."

"We have to fight him full power. It's the only way we're gonna get past him," Cyborg argues.

"Let me fight him, alone," Chad insists. They had had this argument at the beginning when they first entered the room.

"…Fine." With that, Chad charges towards Gantenbainne again. Gantenbainne easily catches his fist and one of his two-pronged daggers flip towards Chad and electricity charges at it.

"Uno!" He punches Chad in the stomach and electricity courses through his body. "Dos!" He releases a barrage of punches at Chad as Cyborg charges towards Gantenbainne. "Ciento!" He punches Chad on the head, making him crack the ground. Gantenbainne looks up and narrowly dodges Cyborg.

Cyborg puts his Hollow mask on, surprising Gantenbainne momentarily. Cyborg immediately grabs Gantenbainne's arm and shoots a sonic beam towards Gantenbainne, enveloping him with the attack. Afterwards, the mask fades away and Cyborg tries to help Chad up. "Hey, Chad! Are you ok?" Chad grunts, which tells Cyborg that he's fine. Suddenly, he sees Gantenbainne coming towards him. He tries to block the attack, but the electricity shocks him making him short circuit. With the electric shock, he completely freezes unable to stop Gantenbainne.

He pushes Cyborg aside and walks over to Chad. "On your feet, Sado Yasutora. I know you're still hiding your true powers. You're strong. Someone like you shouldn't be fighting like this. Someone like you doesn't need help from other people. It's shameful. This should be a fair fight, for God's sake. No answer?" Electricity begins charging at his left pincer. "That hurts my feelings!"

Just before the attack lands, Chad's arm twitches and a huge explosion rocks the room. Among the smoke, Gantenbainne was just blocked by something. "I'm sorry," Chad apologizes. "It's not that I was hiding something. It's just that ever since I came here to Hueco Mundo, my powers have felt different than they did in the real world. It confused me, and I was unable to get a hold of my true powers until now. But I've finally got it under control. I'll be able to fight with my full strength from now on. **Brazo Derecha de Gigante**! This is my right arm's true form!" It has literally become a shield on his arm with something resembling Hollow teeth at the center of the shield.

-Nevermore-

Bravery is standing in front of Intelligence, clutching her arm trying to stop the blood. "Bravery, you idiot! You should have run with Happiness!"

"Well, you know me. Always leaping in before thinking. Besides, you're the only one that can sense emotions! Happiness is going to need you to locate them. I'll handle Bloodlust!" Bravery leaps towards Bloodlust and grabs her weapon. Intelligence watches in surprise as Bravery manages to cut a bit of Bloodlust's cloak. Bravery swings the sword at her again and in that instant, an orange-cloaked emotion falls out of the weapon surprising all four emotions.

"Damn!" Bloodlust curses, trying to grab the weapon back from Bravery. Bravery dodges just as Intelligence helps Rudeness up.

Rudeness's eyes refocus and she sees Bravery fighting. "Whoa! What's going on here?"

"No time to explain! Bravery, I trust you to come back!" Intelligence helps Rudeness up and they run in the opposite direction with Happiness following.

"Damn right, I'll come back…Right after I kill this emotion! Now tell me, Bloodlust! Did Rage tell you to do this? Or did Aizen tell you to do this?"

"Aizen-sama wants me to eliminate all emotions that could get in the way of his plans. Failure is not an option!" Bloodlust disappears, surprising Bravery. But she suddenly reappears behind Bravery and grabs the sword from Bravery.

"Damn!" Bloodlust pushes her, making her collide with the rock.

"Say goodnight…Bravery…" She brings up the sword and for the first time, Bravery was actually…frightened.

-Chad and Cyborg-

After Chad had managed to injure Gantenbainne, he helps Cyborg up. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine…Thanks, man." They walk over to where Gantenbainne had been attacked and wait for the smoke to clear.

"Your true form and your true power, eh? I'll give you that. But…you haven't forgotten about us…have you?" The smoke clears and Gantenbainne steps out, having had released his sword. Gantenbainne's arms have grown longer and is covered in dome-shaped, armor plates, and the punching daggers come to resemble dragon heads. "We have a true form as well…Don't we, Dragra?" He puts out his right hand and puts his Hollow mask over his eyes as if they are goggles. Then he links his hands together and charges up an attack. "Dios, ruego nos perdone!" Similar to a Cero, Gantenbainne's attack envelops the two.

Smoke envelops the area again and Chad speaks up. "I'm sorry, Gantenbainne. I left out one last thing. This really is my right arm's true form. And I know my Abuelo's soul resides within it. Abuelo taught me how to use my strength to protect others. He was right. I didn't understand it at first. The power in my right arm is only meant to defend. And during my training, deep within myself, I finally found the power to attack. And this is it." Gantenbainne takes in Chad's new left arm. The arm is white, with a red stripe running down the length of the center. His fingertips of red diamond shaped marks on them. A spike protrudes from the shoulder and two more resembling claws extend over his chest. "Its name is Diablo…Brazo Izquierda Del Diablo."

"Diablo? The devil?" Gantenbainne asks in surprise. Then he puts his hands together and charges up a ball. "Hah! Diablo is one hell of a name! Right, Sado Yasutora?" He throws the ball at Chad, but he calmly grabs it with his left arm and crushes it. Even though frightened, Gantenbainne charges at him and tries to land a blow. Chad easily blocks it and brings up his left hand. Electricity begins charging at the fingertips and he clenches it into a fist.

"La Muerte!" He punches Gantenbainne in the abdomen, breaking every part of his Resurección and leaving a devil imprint on the wall. With the force from the attack, the wall gets destroyed pushing Gantenbainne outside. Chad and Cyborg walk out. Chad kneels by Gantenbainne. "Gantenbainne, I was able to grab a hold of my true power because you fought me with everything you had. You have my gratitude. I'll be able to survive oncoming battles thanks to you. I won't take your life. Instead, I'll pray for you to have good fortune."

"Yo, Chad!" Chad turns towards Cyborg, whom is looking upwards to the sky. "This is weird, man. My scanners say that we're still in Las Noches, but it feels like we left it. But, now that I think about it, the sky was always dark and the moon didn't move…But then, how did it change to noon?" Chad debates over it too when they hear Gantenbainne speak up.

"R…run." They turn around and they see Nnoitra standing in front of them.

"Yo…so you're the first of 'em?"

"No problem…his movements are slow. I can tell that he's pretty tough, but if we both attack him…we'll get him," Cyborg explains to Chad.

"What are you two doing? Run for it!"

"Before he can do anything, we'll defeat him in one hit!" They agree simultaneously. They both charge for him and Chad punches him in the stomach while Cyborg's sonic cannon shoots at Nnoitra in the face. Chad takes a step back and realizes that Nnoitra is still there.

"What? Is that all you weaklings got?" In an instant, he slices Chad across his body and stabs Cyborg in his stomach.

Meanwhile, the others sense the reiatsu change in both teenagers. "Chad!"

"Cyborg!"

"Did someone get to them?" Renji mutters, Beast Boy running behind him.

"Dude, we gotta go help them!"

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Both Ichigo and Robin suddenly start running.

"_They killed Chad and Cyborg? No way! I believe in them! We made a promise! We all swore to live and return! Trust him!" _Both Ichigo and Robin say.

-Nevermore-

Bravery, panting, quietly crawls away from Bloodlust. She had managed to avoid the final strike and steal the weapon again. She injured Bloodlust and knocked her unconscious. "I'll figure out how to free you guys…I promise." In that instant, the sword glowed again and a purple-cloaked Raven fell out. "Love! You're okay!"

"What happened?"

"You got absorbed by Bloodlust. Come on; let's go find Intelligence and the others before she wakes up again. We have to be careful. Rage is still out here."

"Alright…do you have any idea where they might be?"

"They were going to Timid's domain." Love's eyes widen immediately.

"No! We have to hurry!"

"What? Why? What's going to happen?" Bravery asks, beginning to panic.

"Timid and Innocence are in the sword! Rage could be waiting for them in there! It's a trap!" Love explains, beginning to run.

"No way! Come on! They couldn't have gotten that far!" The two run down the path as Bloodlust sits up.

"Love was excellent in tricking them," a voice begins. Rage drops down and stands next to Bloodlust. "I wonder if they realize that both Love and Rudeness are working for us now."

"I highly doubt they know a thing. Bravery doesn't know a thing about my weapon. All she knows is that it can change form. She doesn't even know how to change it. Hehe…Aizen's going to be pleased…"

"Damn right he will…" Rage agrees, her eyes glowing red like Trigon. "Raven's done for." The two begin laughing in triumph as the ravens in Nevermore start flying around Timid's maze…

* * *

><p><strong>May: Wow, this seemed a bit darker than usual. Well it could just be me. If Raven starts becoming a Mary Sue, please let us know so we can find a way to fix it. Oh and as you can see, Lefty has taken down her two other stories. She will probably not re-publish them due to a lack of popularity. But she does intend to type up new different stories. She is thinking about an Erza Wiki and such. And she's a moping dead body right now so no farewell humor today…Oh and if you THINK you know who Lefty is…PM or review to us. We may reply. And here's a hint: We live in the US. See you next time readers! *bows*<strong>


	11. Doubt

**May: Welcome back, readers. Lefty isn't here at the moment so I shall answer the reviews for her once again. Oh and the good emotions call Arella Raven. And the bad emotions call her Arella. Simple, yes?**

**Ultrawolfie: I've already answered your questions on your latest chapter of Halibel's Wiki. But I shall answer here in case. Is there something wrong with the word "emoticlones"? No one has checked them out for a while and she realized that she needs to provide a backstory as to how the Titans met me first before she can re-start her "Lost" story. Besides, she's trying to think of a better title. What was Lost was a story she did on a whim about Tayuya's background with me. So, expect other stories besides this one and her two old stories, such as her "Death and the Beautiful Snow".**

**Fanamaniac: Alright, I won't kill you. *puts away gun* Uh did you see the ending where they were conversing? Oh and you were the one that gave her the idea of Timid and Innocence being together. Let's see how this turns out…*laughs wickedly***

**Patattack: I know; I'm sorry. We'll try to add more things to make it seem better…But again, Lefty prefers working with Raven-related things. This whole time, I thought you didn't publish the story yet. But then I went to your account and I saw it…**

**Disclaimer: Must I keep doing this? WE DO NOT OWN BLEACH NOR TEEN TITANS! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEADS!**

**Warning: Again, SPOILERS! So don't come crying to me when you realize I just spoiled something for you. That includes you, 5star (when you finally start reading this again…)!**

_Recap_

_The rescuers have managed to defeat their opponents. Now, they are continuing on throughout Las Noches. However, Chad and Cyborg were injured by Nnoitra and left to die by him. Their teammates can't do much, but pray for their survival. Meanwhile, in Nevermore, Intelligence, Bravery, and Happiness encountered a new emotion called Bloodlust. She is on a mission to hunt down all the emotions that would be a hindrance to Aizen's beloved plan. Bravery managed to free Rudeness and Love while Intelligence and Happiness went to Timid's domain. However, as Bravery and Love try to catch up with them, Bloodlust and Rage discuss the trap. Any emotions absorbed into Bloodlust's weapon will be working for Aizen and that Timid and Innocence have already been taken._

-Las Noches-

Orihime is staring out to the moon when she hears a voice. "I'm coming in," Ulquiorra begins. She notices Raven standing behind Ulquiorra, staring at nothing in particular. Ulquiorra notices the look in her eyes. "You sensed it, didn't you? That fool Nnoitra got impatient. He was ordered to wait in his place."

"Chad's not dead," Orihime calmly states. Ulquiorra stares at her and then glances over to Arella. "He's not."

Then he completely turns around and commands, "Come in." An Arrancar wheels in a food cart and begins setting up the food. "It's food."

"I'm not hungry."

"It's your duty to maintain your health until Aizen-sama summons you. Now eat…" She stands there. "Unless you want me to shove it down your throat or strap you down and feed you intravenously."

"Chad's not dead…" she says again.

"That's enough. It doesn't matter. What do you want me to say? Don't worry? He's still alive? Nonsense. I'm not here to comfort you…I don't understand. What difference does it make whether he's alive or dead? One way or another, your friends will all die soon. One of them just happened to die sooner than the others. You must have known this was coming."

"Stop," Orihime demands. She notices Raven shaking her head as if there's pain.

"If you didn't, then you're a fool. And your friends are fool-hardy clowns. Can't you see that? If I were in your place, I'd be disgusted with them for rushing into Hueco Mundo…like lambs to the slaughter." Orihime walks over to him and slaps in the face. He turns back towards her and decides to leave. "I'll be back in an hour. If you haven't eaten by then, I'll tie you down and force-feed you. Count on it."

Before he closes the door, Orihime hears Raven muttering something. "…Orihime…Friends…here to rescue…Orihime…or here to rescue me?"

"Her friends are here to rescue her. Your old teammates were forced to go with them…They never came for you…It's a sad truth, but you just have to deal with it," Ulquiorra lies. As they leave, Ulquiorra hears Orihime crying.

-Rukia's Corridor-

"_Chad's and Cyborg's reiatsu is fading! He can't be too far from here! I've got to hurry!"_ Rukia exits her corridor and exits into an open sky, just like Cyborg and Chad. "What? What's this? Blue skies? But how?"

"Would you like me to explain?" An Espada asks, appearing behind her. She turns around, but finds no one. She notices the Espada in front of the door and the voice changes. "**Come with me**." Rukia chases after him into a darker room and the door behind her closes. "**Now I can finally relax. Sorry, I've never been fond of the sunlight. The sunlight never penetrates this palace. I'll take off my mask and introduce myself. **My name is Aaroneiro," the voice changes again. Rukia freezes, wondering why the voice sounds so familiar. "I'm the _Noveno_ Espada…Aaroneiro Arruruerie." With the mask taken off, Rukia realizes that it's a very familiar face. It's Kaien Shiba, the lieutenant of 13th squad that she was forced to kill.

"K…Kaien!"

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

"Phew…we're here. Now come on. Let's go," Intelligence begins.

"Can you sense Innocence and Timid?" Happiness asks, beginning to take caution.

"It's faint, but I can sense them at the center. Let's go." The three of them walk in right as Bravery and Love appear.

"No! They already went in! Let's go after them!" Bravery begins taking off, but Love grabs her.

"Wait, Bravery! It's a trap, you know that! Our best bet is to fly above the maze and look for them!" Love suggests.

"And you know as well as I do that we can't see them from above. It's something that Timid set up for her domain, remember? We have no choice but to go after them," Bravery explains, gripping Bloodlust's sword harder. At that instant, they hear screams from inside. "Happiness! Intelligence!" Bravery, without another thought, charges into the maze. Love follows and hides the knife she had planned to use on Bravery.

They turn left and see Happiness on the ground with a gash on her stomach. "G-guys?" Happiness mutters, blood trickling out of her mouth. Bravery kneels down by her and immediately pressures the wound.

"Damn! What happened? Who attacked you guys?" Bravery asks, not noticing Love behind her. "Where's Intelligence and Rudeness?"

"Rudeness…was the one that attacked…me. Rudeness…took Intelligence to Rage. She said that Rage and Bloodlust plans to get rid of Intelligence for good."

"What? But why would she be the one that attacked you?"

"The…emotions absorbed into that…sword…" Happiness points at the weapon by Bravery. "…Those emotions…work for Aizen…" Bravery, getting the hint, turns around and blocks Love's attack in time.

"So this whole thing was a trap?" Bravery growls at Love. Love's eyes begin glowing red like Trigon's.

"Of course. It was all thought of by Bloodlust and Rage. Aizen-sama felt that we emotions might be needed later. So, Bloodlust absorbed us into her weapon. Even though some of us looked like we just evaporated, we were merely absorbed faster into the scythe."

"Damn that Aizen!" Bravery pushes Love against the wall and knees Love in the stomach, making her drop onto her knees. "Where is Rage and Bloodlust? I'll go find them!"

"Ha! Do you really think I'd tell you? Bravery, you need to realize that no one really cares for Raven. That's why she accepted Aizen-sama's offer in the first place!" Love begins to stand up.

Bravery grabs Love's cloak and brings her level to Bravery's glare. "Stop trying to imitate him! Tell me where Rage and Bloodlust are! I'm going to find them! And I'm going to get rid of them once and for all so Raven can come back to normal."

Love stares at Bravery, uncertainty flickering in her eyes. But the uncertainty disappears in a second and Love grins. "What if she doesn't want to? What if she accepted this power intentionally? What if she really _does_ want to _kill her friends_?"

Bravery shoves Love against the wall and continues, "Shut up, Love! All I want to know is where Bloodlust and Rage are! I don't believe any of that crap Aizen fed to the rest of you! It's Rage's fault that Raven was manipulated so easily! If she thinks I'm going to sit still and let Raven become 'Arella', she's got another thing coming!" Suddenly, Bravery feels a massive pain erupting in her abdomen. She glances down and sees blood pooling out. She turns around and sees Rage holding a sword's hilt.

"Heheheheh, looks like your beloved plan to come after me…ends here," Rage comments, her grin on her face as she pulls the sword out of Bravery. She punches Bravery in the face, making her drop Bloodlust's weapon. Bravery takes a few steps backwards, forcing herself to stay conscious and begins realizing that she's wounded and outnumbered. She teleports out of the maze right before Rage can attack her again. Behind her, she can hear Rage letting out a roar of frustration.

"_Have to go see if there are any other emotions around…Please, _please_, let there be at least one more emotion still hiding!"_

* * *

><p>-Gin's Control Room-<p>

Gin is changing one of the corridors when he hears Ulquiorra's voice. "Have any of them reached the palace of the Espada yet?" Gin turns around and sees Arella standing behind Ulquiorra.

"How unusual. You're starting a conversation with me. I thought you hated me. Besides…what's she doing here? I thought you two had to go stop Ichigo."

"I decided that we should see how the rest of the trash are doing."

"Really? Then take it easy on me. Luppi's dead and I'm feeling kind of down. I liked talking with him."

"Is this?"

"Yeah. Interesting isn't it?"

"You've been manipulating the corridors?" Arella asks, observing the corridors' changes. Gin looks at her with his foxlike grin before explaining.

"Please…I'm not that cruel. Besides…I like happy endings. And is there something wrong, Arella? You seem distracted."

"I'm just…having a headache," she replies, clutching her head. She senses a disturbance in her mind, and decides to show up and ask Rage what the hell she's doing in there.

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

Arella herself materializes in Timid's maze, the source of her headache. Rage just released some pent-up frustration and that would occasionally cause Arella a headache, brainwashed or not. She spots Rage glaring hatefully at Happiness. "What's going on here, Rage?" Arella asks as Rage materializes a crimson red sword in her hand.

Rage flinches, not expecting to hear Arella herself, and lets the sword disappear. She turns around to face Arella, her original Arrancar mask on her face. "We're just rounding up some emotions that could cause you some problems. But the most annoying one got away," Rage explains, vehemently saying the last sentence.

"Who was it?" Arella asks, somehow expecting her to say…

"Bravery. That emotion is going to a major thorn in your side. Bloodlust and I are doing our best to search for her." Arella nods, strangely not surprised that Bravery was the one that escaped.

She spots Happiness being held by Love and Rudeness. "And who's this?"

"She's one of those troublesome emotions."

Arella looks at Happiness and notices the wound in her stomach. "Let her go." Rudeness and Love, knowing that it's worse to disobey orders from Arella herself, release Happiness. Arella drags her around the corner and helps her down. "Answer some questions for me." Happiness's eyes widen, realizing that Raven is suspicious about something.

"About what?" Happiness asks, clutching her wound. Raven casts her arm aside and starts healing Happiness's wound.

"I…keep thinking that everything that's happening here is fake. Like…everything Rage is doing…it just doesn't seem like something that I would allow." She puts her hand on the mask. "It's strange…Ever since I woke up, this mask has been on my face. I can only make it fade away for a bit before it reappears. I just…can't seem to remember anything from before I woke up. Every time I try to think back, all I remember are my old teammates leaving me to die out here in Hueco Mundo. Aizen was the one that rescued me. But…it just _doesn't_ seem right…As if Aizen is the one that I should kill."

Arella notices tears forming in Happiness's eyes. "Raven…are you feeling better?"

Her eyes darken under the mask and she stops healing momentarily. "Like I told Bravery, my name is Arella Katsue…" She notices Happiness staring at her in disbelief and she resumes healing. She holds in a sigh and continues, "But…I suppose I'll let it slide. Now, first question…is Rage really going to try and eradicate all the problem emotions?"

"We…aren't the problem. Rage and Bloodlust are…They're tricking you, Raven!" Happiness sits up; stopping Raven from healing her and grabs her by her shoulders. "Go find Bravery, Raven! She'll help you fight Aizen's influence!" Before Raven can continue asking anymore questions, she feels a tugging sensation and says one last thing to Happiness.

"Escape from Rage when you have the chance. I know you're wounded, but I'll make sure there's an opening for you to escape from. I've already healed you as much as I can…" She pauses as she begins getting pulled back. "Sorry…"

* * *

><p>-Las Noches-<p>

Arella's eyes refocus and she looks around the area. "Where…?" She realizes that she's in her room now and that Halibel is standing by the window, gazing out to the sky.

"Calm down. You passed out and Ulquiorra brought you back to Orihime's room to see if she can heal you. He went back to his room and I'll let him know that you're feeling better." Arella sits up, looking around. She spots Apache sitting on the sofa quietly. "Are you feeling better?"

Arella nods, wondering what Halibel is looking at. "I'll be fine." She puts her hand on her face again, sensing that the mask is covering her eyes like before. "I'll go find Ulquiorra myself." She gets off the bed and Halibel continues looking out the window. Arella shuts the door behind her, sensing a fight going on in her mind. Choosing to ignore it, she continues on to where she was told is Ulquiorra's area. _"Happiness…I hope you've escaped Rage…I want to know the truth…I want to know…if I'm really a pawn for Aizen or someone he values more than that…"_

-Renji's and Beast Boy's Corridor-

Renji flinches, sensing a fluctuation in reiatsu from Rukia. "Dude, are you ok, Renji?"

"I'm fine…" Renji mutters, wondering what's wrong with Rukia.

"I still don't know why we can't go to Cy! He's injured and we need to go and rescue him!"

"They'll pull through! Just hang on! We're going to go find a way to get to Rukia!"

"Dude what's so important about her? Cy and your buddy Chad's in trouble!" Renji turns around to argue, but a huge shaft opens up in front of him and Beast Boy and Dondochakka fall through it.

"BB!" In that instant, a shaft opens up below him. "Aaahh!" He lands, coughing. "A pitfall? What the hell?" He notices Beast Boy getting up beside him and they hear someone's voice, laughing tauntingly.

"Splendid! I set a lot of traps along the way, but I didn't think anyone would fall for the simplest ones!" A door opens as Renji pokes his sword hilt up and Beast Boy crouches. "Ah, forgive me. Let me introduce myself. I'll only say it once…I hope your feeble brain can remember it." The figure appears, pulling something out of his ear. "I'm No. 8. The Octava Espada…Szayel-Aporro Grantz." Renji glares at him, waiting for him to make a move.

"You must be one of those guys that helped kidnap Raven!" growls Beast Boy.

Szayel-Aporro puts his hands up in a placating manner. "Whoa, that's a scary face. Relax. I may be an Espada, but I'm not much of a fighter. I'm a scientist. Being here allows me to-"

"Stop." Renji unsheathes his sword as Beast Boy puts his hand up to his face. "I didn't come here to chat. I came here to crush you guys. Your résumé doesn't interest me. But go ahead and talk. We'll cut you down where you stand…" Renji threatens. "Bankai! **Hihiō**-!" In that instant, his Bankai evaporates and the wood used in his Bankai begin falling around them. Beast Boy stands there, as shocked as Renji. "…What the…hell happened?" Renji wonders, looking around.

"Well, you didn't let me finish. In this room, you can't perform Bankai."

"I can't…perform…Bankai?" Renji mutters, staring at Szayel-Aporro.

"Very good. Repeating it will help you remember. You learn quickly…for an idiot," Szayel-Aporro taunts. "The details of your Bankai, its shape, nature, reiatsu, reishi composition, as well as its ultimate form are all familiar to me. So I made adjustments to this palace in order to seal your Bankai."

"My Bankai's ultimate form? Only someone who was struck by it could know those things. How could you-?"

"My older brother," Szayel-Aporro interrupts.

"What?"

"Do you remember my name? You don't, do you? All right, I'll say it again. My name is Szayel-Aporro Grantz. Yylfordt Granz is my older brother."

The name rings bells to Renji. He remembers his fight against that Arrancar. "Your brother?"

"Oh, so you remember the worthless fool. I'm surprised."

"Then you're not here to avenge him."

"Ha! Of course not. Why would I? As I was treating his wounds, I collected the data on your Bankai from the parasitic rokureichu I implanted all over his body. He was just a box carrying the rokureichu for me. And I'm much too mature to get mad over a broken box."

"Then you're the fool."

"And your comments continue to confirm my judgment. Your stupidity is mind-boggling. Oh well. You can neither win nor escape." He pulls out his sword. "Don't move. This is the first time I've actually met someone who can perform Bankai. This is an exciting moment for me. So please…don't struggle any more than you have to. I need your corpse intact."

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

Happiness, panting, continues running throughout Nevermore. She tries to find Bravery or even Intelligence if possible. _"Thanks, Raven…_" She clutches her healed wound and continues finding the last two remaining emoticlones. "I…have to find Bravery at least. Even Raven is starting to stop trusting them...Have to find her!" She senses something up ahead and she continues walking. _"It feels like…Innocence? But…I thought she was taken!"_

She senses two people up ahead and she hides behind one of the trees. She looks out from it and spots Bravery comforting Innocence. "…ok…Don't worry, we'll stop Rage and Bloodlust. We just have to find more emotions before it's too late."

Happiness notices Innocence holding back some tears. "B…but what if they do kill us? I don't want to die," Innocence asks, fear clearly etched on her face.

Instantly, Bravery looks over to where Happiness is. "Get over here, you pink-cloaked idiot." Happiness cautiously walks over and Bravery looks at her. "What, are you suspicious of me?"

"No, it's just…I thought Innocence was taken."

"Timid managed to attack Bloodlust before she could do anything. I ran for it and I've been hiding in that crack in the cliff until Bravery showed up."

"Hold up…Timid? The gray-cloaked scaredy-cat…_attacked_ Bloodlust. Are you sure it was Timid?" Innocence nods.

"I was the only one with her when all of us sensed Bloodlust appearing here in Nevermore. We were the first targets."

Happiness kneels down and says, "Bravery, we have to hide somewhere. I guarantee those two are going to come after me. I managed to escape them only because Raven showed up to heal my wounds."

"Wait, that was Raven that showed up? I sensed someone materializing here in Nevermore, but I thought Bloodlust decided to create some new emotion. I didn't expect Raven herself to show up. What did she want?"

"She's not sure about this anymore. She's thinking that Aizen must have done something to her."

"That's true. It's because of Rage after all. We have to-" Bravery stops, sensing someone materializing in. She turns around and sees Raven standing there in the flesh. But there's something different. "Raven? Where's…your mask? Did you kill Aizen?" She reaches out, only for her form to flicker. _"A…thought projection?"_

"Bravery, Happiness, and Innocence…The last three remaining emotions that can fight Rage and that new emotion."

"Wait, are you saying…Intelligence was absorbed into the scythe?" Bravery asks, clenching her fists.

The thought projection looks to the side. "I cannot sense her. And I am not a thought projection, Bravery. It's just me, Raven. I was forced into the farthest parts of Nevermore after Aizen subjected me to the Hōgyoku. I will come and help you whenever I can, but not always. I can't escape all the time. The hold on me here is beginning to strengthen as more of you get captured. Besides…the three of you have survived long enough. Just trick Bloodlust into giving you the scythe. The minute you have it in your hands, you'll be able to free the emotions. And Bloodlust won't exist anymore."

"How the hell are we supposed to trick her into doing something like that?" Bravery questions the hologram.

"Bloodlust's hold on the emotions isn't that strong. Love faltered for a moment when you confronted her, didn't she?" Bravery recalls the brief and uncertain look in Love's eyes. She nods. "If you continue putting doubt on some of the emotions, you might be able to break the control. But, you have a better chance of succeeding if you trick Bloodlust into handing the scythe to you."

"How do we do that?"

"I can't tell you." Raven looks to the side as if she sees something. "Rage is here. I have to go…I trust you three." She swipes her hand across and the image disappears.

The trio looks at each other. "Well, where do we start?" Bravery asks.

"We could try to look for Intelligence first. She's the one with the most common sense and she might have a better chance on convincing the rest of us," Happiness suggests.

"That's not a bad idea. Come on, Innocence. Get off of me so we can start looking for Intelligence," Bravery demands, trying to pry Innocence off. She refuses to get off. With a sigh, Bravery offers, "All right, I'll piggy-back you." Innocence lets go and hops onto Bravery's back, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Now then, let's get a move on!" Bravery stands up and the trio walks off, hoping to find Intelligence.

* * *

><p>-Rukia's Corridor-<p>

After a long battle, Rukia managed to discover that Kaien is a fake. Aaroneiro had devoured Metastacia when he fled back to Hueco Mundo and also gained control of Kaien. Now, Rukia is reminiscing about her training at Mount Koifushi with Kaien after being stabbed by Aaroneiro. She grabs Nejibana as Aaroneiro taunts her. "You're still alive. Impressive…or rather…pitiful, perhaps. No matter how long you cling to life, you will never be able to slay me." She mutters something under her breath and brings up her broken Zanpakuto, pointing it at Kaien's forehead. "Pretending to fight with a broken sword? That's annoying, lower it."

"S…san…no mai…(Dance #3)" Rukia mutters, as ice begins gather at her broken sword. It forms into a makeshift sword and it pierces Aaroneiro's top head. "Shirafune (White Sword)."

"Wh…what?" The top head asks in disbelief.

"I…remembered where his heart is. You may have his spiritual body, but…you don't have his heart. Assistant Captain Kaien's heart…**is in me**!" She glares at the top head before thrusting her sword downwards. "Farewell, Espada!"

Water gushes out of the tank as the two heads fall onto the ground. Rukia lies there, trying to catch her breath. The high-pitched voice, the one at the bottom, rolls around. "No! I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Help me! Help me, Aizen-sama! Aizen-sama! You said that if I followed you, you'd free me from all of my suffering. So what is this? I can't breathe! Make it stop! NO! NO! NO! NO! No! No! No…" The head stops, dead.

The other head, glares at Rukia and utters one last word. "Damn…" The head splits in half, leaving Rukia lying there, clinging to life by a single thread.

"_Don't die…"_ She hears Kaien's voice. _"You mustn't…die alone, Rukia."_

"_I know loneliness_," she reflects, pushing herself upwards. _"The loneliness of captivity…and the joy of being rescued by a friend…I know the horror of seeing a comrade fall. Don't worry, Orihime…_I'm coming!" She pushes herself one last time before collapsing.

Throughout Las Noches, all of the Espada, including Arella, sense Aaroneiro's death. Ulquiorra glances over to Arella. "A comrade…is dead," Arella mutters. She shakes her head and continues following Ulquiorra.

"We're almost there. Soon, we'll meet the Shinigami and your traitorous friend," Ulquiorra urges. Arella nods, although uncertain.

"Aaroneiro, huh?" Apache mutters as Halibel looks out to Las Noches from her balcony. "Halibel-sama, what do you want us to do?"

"That brat, letting himself get killed like that," Baraggan comments.

In Starrk's room, Lilynette playfully points her finger downwards. She jabs it down his throat, forcing him to sit up. As he gags from her attack, she laughs, "Hahaha! You're finally awake!" He looks over at her and she brings up the peace sign with a grin. "Morning…Starrk!"

"Ugh…Lilynette…" Starrk thinks better of it and lies back down. "Gimme a break…"

Irritated, she leaps onto him and tickles him forcing him to wake up. As they calm down, Lilynette comments, "They got Aaroneiro."

"I know."

"Well? What are you going to do?" she asks seriously.

He stares at her with an expressionless face. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Two Fracción belonging to Szayel-Aporro report to him about Aaroneiro's death. "Oh yeah, we received a report. I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice. They say they're both dead…Soul Reaper."

"What are you talking about?" Beast Boy asks, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.

"Like I said, one of your friends and an Espada killed each other." He begins mock clapping. "Congratulations. That's quite an achievement."

"How do you know?" Renji asks, panting.

"That' they're both dead? They're dead all right. We even know the girl's name. It was…**Rukia**." Renji's eyes widen and he swings Zabimaru straight at Szayel-Aporro's head, whom blocks it with ease. "A predictable reaction. You really are interesting. But, as I've already told you…Shikai is not enough to harm an…" Renji swings his sword harder and deals a minor cut on Szayel-Aporro's forehead.

"Shut up and…get out of my way!"

-Ichigo and Robin-

"Rukia!" Ichigo mutters, turning around.

"So you noticed. And here, I thought you were just a boy with a lot of reiatsu. But it seems your senses are pretty good." Ichigo turns back around and sees Ulquiorra standing at the top of the stairs.

"You..."

"It's been a while...Shinigami."

Robin spots a hooded figure behind Ulquiorra and his eyes widen when he sees the color of the cloak. "Raven..."

* * *

><p><strong>May: My, my...writer's block IS our worst enemy...We are sorry if some parts seemed like shit, but Lefty and I were having difficulty with it. We are so very sorry. We'll try to make it up to you all. And let's see...well Raven's there and she's going to clash with Robin...Or is she?<strong>

**Lefty: Now, you're just going to spoil everything for the readers.**

**May: Whatever you say...You want to find out what happens? REVIEW!**

**Lefty: Tennis...slowly going to an end...I'm going to miss the seniors...**

**May: Enough of that. Some of them said they'll come back during the summer.**

**Lefty: Yeah to watch us suffer.**

**May: ...I'm pretty sure she's joking...**

**Lefty: We'll see. I'm going to jack that Boba from her...**


	12. What did he do to you?

**Raise your hands if you think that last chapter sucked like hell. NOT YOU, May!**

**May: *stops halfway* Fine then. You weren't very specific as to who you wanted to raise their hands. **

**Lefty: Let's…just get onto answering everyone's reviews and start the story.**

**May: Agreed.**

**Fanamaniac: School is evil and needs to be destroyed XD Well~ you'll see~ Yeah, Timid attacked Bloodlust. I was so dead in that last chapter, I kept deleting parts that I disliked. I have a feeling the same thing is going to happen here…Huh, ok, I'll change it when I remember to, or when my friend is nice enough to beta for me. There might be a bit more action as the trio tries to free the rest of the emoticlones from Bloodlust's control. Let's see how this turns out shall we? Oh, those problems were for my other story. I am so used to using present tense now…**

**Oh and Kitsura E. was feeling sadistic/sarcastic/dark and I gave her the suggestion that she edits my action scenes. Meaning, expect some darkness and drama in the fight between two birds my dear readers**

* * *

><p><em><span>Recap<span>_

_As the Titans, Ichigo, Chad, Uryū, and Rukia continue through Las Noches, Rukia encountered an Espada that had the ability to take the form of Kaien Shiba, the assistant captain that she was forced to kill. At the cost of her life, she managed to defeat the Espada as the rest of the rescue team senses her fading reiatsu. Meanwhile, in Nevermore, Bravery, Happiness, and Innocence manage to escape from Rage and Bloodlust. As they try to figure out an escape plan, Raven herself appears, saying that she's been locked away at the farthest part of Nevermore. The three are told that the only way to rescue her is to try and convert the emotions, but the best plan is to steal Bloodlust's weapon. Immediately, after Ichigo and Robin sense Rukia's fading reiatsu, Ulquiorra appears in front of them…along with one other person. Raven._

Excerpt from Chapter 10

_"Rukia!" Ichigo mutters, turning around._

_"So you noticed. And here, I thought you were just a boy with a lot of reiatsu. But it seems your senses are pretty good." Ichigo turns back around and sees Ulquiorra standing at the top of the stairs._

_"You..."_

_"It's been a while...Shinigami."_

_Robin spots a hooded figure behind Ulquiorra and his eyes widen when he sees the color of the cloak. "Raven..."_

***ahem* ON WITH THE STORY**

* * *

><p>"Y…you're…Ulquiorra!" Ichigo realizes, remembering the Arrancar that was with Yammy.<p>

"You remember my name. I don't recall introducing myself to you." He begins descending. "Anyway…Rukia Kuchiki is dead."

Ichigo is taken over by shock as Robin breaks the silence. "What are you talking about?" He glances up to the figure standing in front of the door. _"Why won't she move?"_

"Actually, she and the Noveno Espada killed each other. Her face was cut and a trident was thrust through her abdomen. She's quite dead."

Ichigo gets over the shock and argues, "That's a lie! It was just a drop in her reiatsu! Anyway, you didn't fight her, so how would you…?"

"Ninshiki Dōki. It was one of the Noveno Espada's abilities and one of his duties. He could instantly relay data about any enemy he was facing to his comrades."

Ichigo immediately turns around, surprising Robin, whom had grabbed his bo staff out of his belt. "Where are you going?" He asks, looking up at the cloaked figure. _"And why won't she do anything?"_

"I'm going to go save Rukia," Ichigo says calmly.

"I told you, she's dead," Ulquiorra repeats.

"I don't believe you."

"Then why don't we kill him first?" Robin asks, his bo staff extending to its full 3-feet length.

"We have no reason to kill him."

"What? But he-"

"He hasn't done anything to hurt our friends yet."

"You think not? What if I told you…that I brought Orihime Inoue to Hueco Mundo?"

Robin gets blasted by a strong gust of wind as Ichigo attacks Ulquiorra, whom easily blocks Zangetsu with his hand. "Then she **didn't **come here of her own free will!"

"How interesting. You came all the way here to save her, even though you weren't sure she was innocent." Robin looks up, gripping his bo staff and expecting the person at the top to make a move.

"Don't you get it? Orihime was marked as a traitor because of you!" Ichigo blames Ulquiorra.

"And that was the plan. Otherwise, our plan would have failed."

"You bastard!" Ichigo curses.

"Now do you have a reason to fight me?"

The two of them separate and Ichigo stands in front of Nel and Robin. "You two stay back. Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way."

"Wait, Ichigo!" Ichigo turns, but staggers as someone swiftly darts past him. An abrupt Sonído and whoever it was disappears, but quickly reappears again, swinging their dark, black sword down at Robin. A loud clang sounds as Robin deftly swings his bo staff to barely block the attack. Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise and worry.

"Robin!" Robin ducks as the attacker tries to behead him.

"No time!" Another swing. "Just beat him!" A dodge. "I'll take care of this one!" Ichigo hesitates for a moment before nodding and turning back towards Ulquiorra. Robin grunts as the attacker successfully manages to land a hit, resulting in a small cut. He kicks the cloaked attacker back and jumps back into a defensive stance as the figure slides across the rough terrain before regaining their balance. Robin gives the figure a calculating glare, "Who are you and why do you have Raven's cloak?"

Then he notices the four glowing red eyes under the shadows of the hood. They cackle darkly. Robin narrows his eyes and sharply throws a birdarang at the figure, but they lazily deflect it with a simple twist of their sword. The figure cackles again, and gives him a crazed look promising death, "Who's Raven?" The figure tilts their head to the side condescendingly as their feral smirk widens in pure glee, " The name's Arella Katsue, asshole." Robin flinches as he hears Raven's voice underlying the raspiness and darkness.

Robin growls, "Then show yourself! I'm not going to take your word for it until you take off that hood!" Arella merely scoffs and charges at Robin, bringing her sword up with deadly accuracy. He dodges at the last moment and kicks her back as he flips over her. Going along with the momentum, Arella tucks and rolls before jumping up and slashing her sword, hoping to slit Robin's throat. He ducks, but using his momentary lack of defenses, Arella kicks him in the gut and twists around to slam him into the ground as he doubles over. Robin coughs up blood as he painfully tries to breathe. Arella saunters over and crushes her foot against his chest, smirking in pleasure as she hears a few ribs crack in response. Robin grits his teeth.

She presses her foot on his chest, making him wheeze. "Looks like you were too weak. No wonder you left me to die out here in Hueco Mundo!" she seethes. Robin's eyes widen.

"What are you talking about! I don't even know you!" Robin argues. "You have Raven's cloak, but you claim to be someone named Arella Katsue!" He adds as he twists his body to unbalance her before pulling his leg back and sweeping her feet out from under her. He gets up and grabs his bo staff, risking a glance at Ichigo's battle with Ulquiorra just as Ichigo sent a Getsuga Tenshō at Ulquiorra. Arella, taking advantage of Robin's momentary distraction, punches Robin in the face and sends him skidding across the terrain before he regains his balance. He curses himself for losing focus as he spits out the blood in his mouth and ignores the stinging pain starting to bloom across his cheek. He just knows there's going to be a massive bruise there later.

"You fool, letting your guard down like that," Arella mockingly criticizes as an explosion rocks the room causing clouds of sands to swirl around in twisters. Both of them turn towards Ichigo's fight, despite the previous statement and see that Ichigo has fled with Ulquiorra right on his tail. Robin doesn't want to leave Ichigo to fend for himself and making a split-second decision, decides to chase after the two.

"_Forget about her! I have to go help Ichigo!"_ is his last thought as Robin materializes his mask and disappears from view. Robin reappears to find smoke billowing out of a pillar and uses Shunpo to enter the room. He reappears behind Ulquiorra just as he is about to attack Ichigo and transforms his staff into a sword, slashing at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra easily ducks and sends a round-house kick at Robin, sending him flying to Ichigo's side, making Robin's mask shatter.

"You both have fought long enough. Give up," Ulquiorra prompts, but he is stopped when Ichigo's stabs him with his Tensa Zangetsu.

"I don't…give up." Ichigo looks up, smirking. "You're the leader of the Espada, right? So if I beat you, then this war's as good as won!" Ulquiorra stares at him, contemplating over something.

Then Ulquiorra grabs Tensa Zangetsu, beginning to shred a part of his shirt. "I see…That's unfortunate." The uniform tears away, revealing a number.

The number **4**. "Four? What the hell?"

"That's right. I'm the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer. I'm ranked Fourth…among the Espada." In that instant, he impales Ichigo in the chest with his hand. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you can't defeat me. And even if you somehow manage to…there are_ four_ other Espada left that are stronger than I. No matter how many times you get back up again, there can be…**no victory** for you…" He pulls his hand out and looks down at Robin as Ichigo collapses. "Looks like I overestimated the both of you. You're not as strong as I thought. This is the end for you…Leave this world immediately if you can still move. If you can't, stay there and die. Your quest…ends here, Shinigami." He turns around and pauses momentarily. "Arella will finish you off, human." Ulquiorra turns back around and stares at Robin, his expression blank and emotionless.

Robin struggles to stand, but only manages to get to his knees, " Wait...I thought there are only 10 Espada...If you said there are four more Espada, then...is there one ranked 0?" Ulquiorra gives him a disinterested glance and seems to debate whether to tell him or not.

"No, two of us just share one number," Arella answers for him as she appears beside Ulquiorra. Robin pushes himself to his feet with his bo staff and ignores the twinges of pain brought with that simple motion.

"Tell me, who are you?" Robin growls, knowing that he shouldn't waste any more time."

Arella ignores him and turns to Ulquiorra, "Do I really get to kill him?" before coldly glaring at Robin, her eyes shining with bloodlust. Ulquiorra merely nods before he Sonídos out the room. Robin and Arella both snap their heads toward each other and Robin grimaces at the thought of fighting a bloodthirsty girl.

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

Bloodlust continues to fly over the skies of Nevermore, using a black disc which is her scythe. She looks around, hoping to find the three. _"Their robes don't even blend into the environment! Bravery might be a bit difficult, but if they found Innocence then it wouldn't be too hard! So where the hell are they?" _Bloodlust continues scouring the surroundings and spots Rage. She descends and hops off her disc, letting it revert back to her scythe. "How's our dear bird?" Bloodlust asks.

"She's weakening." Rage breaks into a grin again. "Once we get those three, there will be no more doubt. Now that we've got Intelligence under our control, Raven's lost most of her reasoning. But we have to stop Bravery. She may not be Intelligence, but she's the reason why Raven's still resisting our control." Rage punches a nearby tree, cracking it and leaving a flock of ravens flying away.

"We'll get them soon enough. Trust me. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got something I need to do…" Bloodlust trails off with her bloodthirsty grin plastered on her face.

"Heheh…good luck…Remember, slow…and painful…" Rage reminds Bloodlust. She nods and envelops herself in a black mist, disappearing. Rage turns around and says, "Now then, time to go find that idiot trio…"

* * *

><p>-Robin vs. Arella-<p>

Robin narrowly ducks her sword when she suddenly freezes as if something pulled her back. He stands there warily in a defensive stance, not knowing what to expect, but not willing to take a chance and lose a limb or something. Suddenly, Arella's sword changes into a long scythe and Robin sees a hollow mask begin to form across her face. Soon, her mask fully forms and her entire face is covered in the stark white mask with red streaks across it. Her mouth is still uncovered and Robin notes that there is a bloodthirsty grin adorning her face. "Well, little birdie...seems that you still don't know who I am..." Her voice grows darker and more distorted as she speaks and Robin can't detect a trace of Raven's voice anymore.

Robin narrows his eyes and throws several ice disks at Arella only for her to slice them all to pieces as dark energy forms around her. Robin takes a chance and shouts, "Raven! I know it's you! Stop it!"

Arella continues to stand there, mocking him," Make me," she smirks, "Besides, why should I? You're the one that told the rest of our team to leave me here to die. If it weren't for Aizen-sama, I'd be dead and your _lovely plans_ would have been completed." As she speaks, she begins to tremble with anger. "Well thanks to him, your plans didn't! And now, _I'm going to get my revenge_." She leaps at him with inhumane speed and manages to deeply cut Robin's arm before he can dodge. He hisses in pain as she stores her scythe in a different dimension.

Robin is reluctant to attack her and instead shouts back, "What are you talking about? I never left you here to die! Aizen's lying to you!" He grabs her arm, surprising her. "Snap out of it Raven! I know you're stronger than this." His masked eyes look at her pleadingly," The four of us are your friends, Raven. We'd never leave you to die! Aizen was the one that kidnapped you!"

After the initial shock, Raven growls at him and knees him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Robin doubles over, but Raven grabs his shirt and yanks him up so that they are eye-level with each other. Raven narrows her eyes and spats, "What are you talking about, idiot? You four were _never_ my friends. You only _used me_ and after my father took over the world, _you feared me_." She harshly enunciates the next few sentences, "Unlike you, Aizen-sama accepted that part of me. _He didn't fear me_!" She abruptly releases her grip on Robin's shirt and side-kicks him, sending him through several pieces of rubble before landing by Ichigo's side. Robin blinks the blood out of his eyes wearily and sees Raven standing above him with her hood lowered.

He notices that her hair is longer now and that her mask is concealing her four demonic red eyes. His heart twinges in sadness as he notes that her eyes are filled with the desire to kill. As she places her hand over the left side of her face, her mask fades partly to reveal the number 3 over her two left eyes. Robin's eyes widen in shock, "You're...stronger than Ulquiorra?" He can't believe what he's seeing even though it's right in front of him, _"There's no way that can be Raven...What the hell did that bastard do to you?"_

The mask abruptly covers her face again as she frowns and lowers her hand, "Are you implying that you thought I was weak? That must be another reason why you ditched me here, isn't it!" She kicks him in the stomach and suddenly grabs his face with both hands. She stares him in the eye and demands, "Answer me, you bastard!"

Robin merely places one of his hands over hers, "Raven...what's wrong? What did Aizen do to you?" Raven's eyes flash in anger and betrayal and she slaps his hand away before opening her palm. Her dark scythe materializes into her hand and she shakily raises it up, intending to end everything with that final blow.

Robin is too weak from not defending against Raven's attacks and, closing his eyes, he softly speaks, "Raven...I know you." Raven's scythe pauses an inch away from Robin's throat. "Aizen must have tricked you using one of his mind games - just like Slade. But you beat Slade." Robin's eyes snap open and he winces as he tries to push himself up. "If you can beat him, then you can beat Aizen." He hesitatingly places his hands over Raven's and when she didn't pull away, he softly continues speaking, "Come on, Raven. I know you can do it..." Her hands lower and the scythe disappears. "That's it...please, let me help you."

Raven suddenly smiles at him, but Robin immediately senses that there is something wrong. "Wh-" A sharp pain sudden erupts in his chest and he gasps as he glances down and sees a long, jagged dagger deeply imbedded in the center of his chest. "R-raven..." She shoves him back against the rubble.

"I don't need help from someone like you. Only Aizen-sama can help me." Walking forward, she mercilessly yanks out her dagger and blood immediately begins to gush out of the wound, darkening his red shirt. "Eh, sucks for you, but this is my favorite dagger so I would rather not leave it behind though it would have made a nice message for the others."

Robin can barely hear her voice over the ringing in his ears and he struggles to gasp in air, but only manages to choke himself further with blood. "R-raven..." She glances at him before turning around and striding away.

"One bastard down, three more to go." A feral grin spreads across her face and her eyes flash in bloodlust as she turns into a raven and flies out of the pillar, back to her room. Robin weakly raises his arm towards where she disappeared, but shakily drops it. As his raspy breathing slows and his vision blurs, he thinks he can hear a voice calling his name. _"How nice. Dying while thinking you're going to be saved."_ The darkness takes over completely.

* * *

><p>-Orihime's Room-<p>

Loly continues throwing Orihime around the room. She and Menoly had appeared earlier because no one was there to watch her. Loly, jealous and angry at her, decided to take revenge on Orihime. She grabs Orihime's hair while laughing gleefully. "Look at you! You really think a human like you can defeat an Arrancar?" Orihime looks down at her with a calm and brave face. Loly feels a strange feeling crawling up her spine and curses at her. "You little…don't look at me like that!" She punches Orihime in the face again and Menoly warns her to stop making so much noise. "Shut up!"

"Loly…" she warns again. But before she can say anything else, the door is broken down by someone surprising the two female Arrancars. An Arrancar appears out of the room and the two stand there, shocked. "G…Grimmjow!"

The teal-haired Arrancar smirks and says, "Hey. So you snuck in here while Ulquiorra was out, eh? So, having fun? Huh?"

He strides over and Loly manages to ask, "What do you want-?" before he ruthlessly kicks her in the stomach, knocking her and making her crash. Menoly charges towards him, charging up a Cero, but he stops her and blasts her with his own Cero. After effectively vaporizing her, he calmly walks over to Loly. "Y…you do realize…that…A-Aizen-sama will get you for this. You're just a-" He interrupts her when he grabs her leg. Then he puts his own foot on it and begins pressuring it. "Hey…what are you-? No! Stop! Stop! No! Stop! Please don't! I won't tell anyone!" Her pleas go unheard as he rips off her leg, leaving her to scream bloody murder. "Y-you're dead! I hope Aizen-sama kills-" He kicks her in the stomach, making her stop.

"You fool. Aizen doesn't care what I do to you." He walks over to Orihime and she questions him. "For my left arm."

"What?" she asks. He grabs her and pulls her up. "Why did you-?"

"Why? You think I came here just to help you? Don't be silly! I've repaid my debt to you. We're even. And now you will do something for me," he smirks.

-Renji and Beast Boy-

With the two of them cornered, things were starting to look hopeless. But Uryū and Starfire appeared and killed one of Szayel-Aporro's many fracción. "Well, you're not very tough, but there certainly are a lot of you."

Szayel-Aporro stares at Uryū and Starfire for a moment before commanding them, "SILENCE!" The fracción stop yelling and he continues, "Our guest has something he wishes to say. So let's hear him out."

"That's very kind of you. Sorry to get right to the point, but I need to confirm one thing. Are you an Espada?"

"Yes, I am the Octavo Espada…Szayel-Aporro Grantz," he introduces himself.

"Octavo…the eighth. What a relief. That doesn't sound too scary."

"No, it doesn't. But don't be fooled. I'm still stronger than you. By the way, who are you two?"

"Uryū Ishida…a Quincy."

"My name is Starfire," she replies, her starbolts charging up.

But Szayel-Aporro's interest is towards Uryū. "A Quincy! You're that unusual being that fought Sanderwicci! First a Bankai user! And now a Quincy! What luck! Yammy would be howling with joy!" Uryū jumps off and disappears momentarily.

He reappears behind Szayel-Aporro, surprising him. "You're right. That's just what Yammy would do. And to have someone like you in my sights makes me want to howl too." He aims his bow at Szayel-Aporro and fires it, letting it pierce his neck.

* * *

><p>-ArellaRaven-

She phases through the wall leading into her room, surprising Apache. She reverts back to her usual form and walks over to her bed. "Where's Ulquiorra?"

"He went back ahead of me. He left me to deal with the leader of the Titans." She smirks, looking out the window. "And I dealt with him alright. Now I just need to kill three more…"

Apache stares at her in disbelief. This is the same girl that refused to step down against Aizen when she first arrived here? This was the one that Halibel somehow combined with momentarily? What did Aizen-sama _do_ to her? In Arella's mind, Bloodlust had left control of her and is continuing her search throughout Nevermore.

-Nevermore-

The trio hides in the cliff face as Happiness treats Innocence's wound on her leg. "We have to hurry. We don't know when Rage and Bloodlust are going to appear. Hell, the other emotions might show their faces too. We have to hurry," Bravery mutters, peeking out of the small hole they had crawled through.

"Why are we hiding from the other emotions?" Innocence asks.

"Because Bloodlust has brainwashed them into thinking Aizen is the good guy. The more we get captured, the weaker Raven gets until she's completely Arella Katsue. And that's a bad thing because we won't see the same old Raven anymore and then she'll help Aizen destroy the world. Understand?" Happiness asks. Innocence nods and Bravery suddenly flinches. "What-?" Bravery stops her before turning back to the entrance.

She makes a quieting gesture with her hand and pushes herself back, forcing Happiness and Innocence to the back. "Rage just passed by…You guys stay here. I'll keep watch," she whispers to them. They nod and she crawls a bit closer to the entrance. She looks over to where Rage had gone. _"Who's she talking to…?"_ Bravery pushes herself forward about 3 more inches and spots Bloodlust in front of her. She presses herself against the wall and tries to listen in to the conversation.

"Good, now we just have to deal with three more Titans. Doesn't matter if those three manage to get Intelligence back from us. We've figured out a way to keep Raven under our control long enough," Rage agrees. Bravery can tell that Rage is practically grinning maliciously from the news.

"_Wait a minute…Three more Titans? Does that mean…Bloodlust killed one of them?"_ Bravery grits her teeth, forcing herself not to lunge out and force the answer out of them. _"Just have to wait a bit more. I might gain more info."_

"It wasn't that hard. He refused to injure me because I'm his _precious little Raven_," Bloodlust mocks him. "So, after throwing him around a bit, I stabbed him in the heart with the hidden dagger." Bravery's eyes widen in disbelief.

"_No freaking way! She actually killed Robin?"_

"And the more we kill, the more she's sure that they really did leave her for dead. Hahaha…once those damn ants are dead, we will be able to assist Aizen-sama in the war against the Soul Society," Bloodlust says confidently.

"And if we can't find Bravery and the other two in time? It's Bravery that's allowing Raven to resist our control. She'll be the emotion that we kill when we have the chance," Rage reminds her.

"Trust me, she'll come. After all, she needs my scythe to release the rest of the emotions…isn't that right…**Bravery**?" Bravery flinches, not expecting her to know about her location. "I know you're there…along with Innocence and Happiness. Just get out here and fight me. If you beat me, then I'll give you the scythe." Bravery closes her eyes and crawls out of the hole as she hears Happiness and Innocence phasing through the rocks. She gets up, glaring at the two emotions that caused this whole mess.

"Do you really swear that you'll give me the scythe when I beat you?"

"Hahaha, I _love_ your optimism. It's **if** you beat me, Bravery," Bloodlust reminds her.

"Shut up, Bloodlust! I don't need to hear that from you!" Bravery lunges at Bloodlust and materializes her own weapon into her hand, a 2 ½ feet broadsword. She swings her broadsword at Bloodlust, whom easily blocks it with her scythe. Bloodlust kicks Bravery in the stomach, making her stagger for a minute. Bloodlust then uppercuts Bravery and looks over to Rage.

"Looks like I'm not going to need my scythe after all. You watch after it, Rage. I'll take care of her." Rage nods and she tosses the scythe to Rage. Bloodlust turns back to Bravery, whom just stood up.

Bravery clutches her broadsword, waiting for her opponent to make a move. "What? Too scared to come at me first? Don't get so cocky!" Bravery begins.

"Oh please, I was expecting you to make the first move. I mean, from what Rage told me, you're the 'attacks first, ask questions later' type of person. Did you, perhaps, mature after this?" Bloodlust mocks. Bravery growls, but keeps herself from charging at Bloodlust. For once, Bloodlust frowns at this unexpected action. _"What the hell is going on? Why isn't she attacking?"_ Just as Bloodlust wonders about it, someone punches her in the face. "What the hell?" She asks, looking at her assailant.

It's Happiness, wearing Rage's cloak, and she's holding the scythe in her hand. "The plan…actually worked!" Happiness begins.

"Of course it worked!" Bravery exclaims, appearing behind Bloodlust. "I might not be as strategic as Intelligence, but I know when I shouldn't just rush straight into the battle!"

"When did you bastards get Rage?" Bloodlust asks, materializing a simple katana out of thin air. She hears footsteps and her eyes widen. "No way! When did you start helping them, Intelligence?" Bloodlust growls as Intelligence takes off Bravery's green cloak.

"They found me a few minutes prior to hiding in the cliff there," Intelligence begins as Innocence appears behind Happiness's leg. She stops momentarily, handing the cloak over to Bravery and putting on her glasses and yellow cloak. "They managed to break me out of your control and Bravery gave me a brilliant idea of how to get the scythe. It was pretty risky, by the way, but we managed to get Rage unconscious long enough to take her cloak and pass off as her. That was Happiness, by the way."

Bravery growls and swings her katana at Intelligence, but she merely side-steps to Bravery's side. She materializes two sax knives into her hands, waiting for Bravery to give the order. "Bloodlust, give it up. We've got you cornered and we have the scythe. You've got no chance against us," Bravery threatens.

But Bloodlust laughs mirthlessly with her eyes closed. She stops, and her katana disappears. "Me? Give up? Against you _fools_? The day will come when I do that! No, Bloodlust will _never _give up to the likes of you." A black aura begins enveloping here. "And…I never said **that was my real scythe**."

Her words shock the three emotions present there and the scythe begins emitting a glow. "Drop the scythe, Bravery!" Intelligence commands. But before Bravery can do anything, the scythe explodes and envelops them in a harsh light. When it clears, they open their eyes. Bravery looks around and curses.

"Damn it. That was some bad luck, wasn't it, Intelligence?" Not hearing a reply for a few seconds, she turns around. No one is there, not even Happiness. All that's left are Intelligence's glasses, and a pool of blood on a small scrap of Innocence's cloak. "No…Bloodlust…you bastard…DAMN IT!"

* * *

><p>-Robin and Ichigo-<p>

As the two lie there, deceased, Nel peeks out of the rubble. "I-Ichigo? R-Robin?" Not hearing their reply and seeing Ichigo's lifeless eyes, her eyes begin tearing up. "I-Ichigo! I-Ichigo! Robin!" She falls down the rocks and starts crawling towards them as she cries. "You can't die here! I-Ichigo!" She is stopped when a foot slams down in front of her.

"Move it, brat," Grimmjow demands.

"S-sexta Espada…G-Grimmjow-s-sama…"

He walks over to Ichigo and kicks him over, looking at the hole Ulquiorra inflicted on him. "Tch, just as I thought." He spots Robin's head looking down at nothing and grabs him, dropping him besides Ichigo. Then, he pulls out a cloak and Orihime falls out.

"I-Ichigo…and…Robin?" Orihime recalls seeing the teenager when she first came to the Vizards' hideout.

Grimmjow sits down on the rubble and commands, "Heal them. But heal Kurosaki first."

Loly and Menoly, whom Orihime healed before she left with Grimmjow, are standing with their backs to the wall as Ulquiorra enters the room. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Ichigo! Ichigo was trying to protect me and he got hit by a Cero! Ichigo was trying to protect me, but then he got kicked really hard! I-I kept getting in Ichigo's way!" She pauses as Orihime continues healing the two of them with her Sōten Kisshun. "A-and…Robin! He was fighting the new Espada! I-I couldn't do anything to help him! I-Ichigo would have been ok if I wasn't there! It's all my fault! Please save them!"

She begins crying hysterically and Grimmjow yells, "SHUT UP!" She flinches and turns towards him, fearfully. "Shut your goddamn mouth, you brat! Say another word and I'll blow your damn head off." She nods and he continues, "He'll recover even if you're not screaming. So be quiet and quit screaming.

As Orihime continues healing Ichigo's and Robin's wound, she muses over their wounds. _"There's an incredible reiatsu engulfing Ichigo's wound. And Robin's wound seems like a simple dagger wound, but there's something in there that's keeping me from healing him. The process is slow for both of them. I can't reject it!_ Who on earth did this?" she asks as Ulquiorra inspects the rubble.

"It was Ulquiorra," Grimmjow replies.

"Who did this?" Ulquiorra asks.

"Grimmjow…" Loly states, fearfully.

"It's a habit of his. I don't know if he notices it himself or not, but he has this habit of stabbing enemies that catch his eye in the same spot where his own hole is." As Ulquiorra leaves the room with an unreadable expression, Grimmjow stands up from his seating place. "I'll teach him what happens when you try to seal someone else's prey…" he vows.

"Did…Ulquiorra do this to Robin too?"

"No, it's a dagger wound. The one that did it was that new Espada. She's the one that did this to him."

"But…isn't the new Espada…Raven?"

Before Grimmjow can answer her question, Ichigo's hand twitches, the light returning in his eyes. "Nel? And Orihime?"

"Ichigo…" Orihime mutters happily.

"Ichigo!" Nel exclaims, climbing onto Orihime's shoulder.

"Shut up!" Grimmjow stomps his foot. "If you've got time to cry, use it to heal him faster!"

"You're…Grimmjow? What's Orihime doing with you?"

"You keep quiet and let her heal you! I want you at 100% when we settle this once and for all!"

"Grimmjow! You're making me heal him just for that?" Orihime asks, shocked.

"I told you to shut up! He was dying, and I _let_ you save his life! So shut up and heal him! And hurry it up! Ulquiorra's gonna come back here when he figures out what's going on. So before he does-" The sonic boom from a Sonído surprises Grimmjow, Orihime, Nel, and Ichigo. Grimmjow and Orihime look at the figure standing behind Grimmjow. It's Ulquiorra, with an impassive look on his face.

Behind the two of them, next to Ichigo, Robin's hand begins twitching and the light in his eyes begin to return.

**Lefty: *hops up wearing a Santa hat* Merry, merry Christmas, readers! ^^**

**May: Merry Christmas everyone.**

**Tayuya: *shivering* M-merry C-Christm-mas…**

**May: …You're fire. Why the hell are you cold?**

**Tayuya: D-don't j-judge m-me**

**Lefty: *sneezes* May…are you dropping the temperature on purpose?**

**May: Perhaps.**

**Lefty: …*facepalm* You can make it snow **_**after**_** Tay leaves and I put on a coat. I am NOT going to freeze to death because of my OC. **

**May: Weren't there some questions that you wanted to ask your readers? Or do you want me to ask them?**

**Lefty: *not listening* Now I have to go get my coat. Be right back, readers.**

**May: …I'll ask the questions then. **

_1) Do you guys want the JLU (Justice League Unlimited) heroes involved with the Winter War?_

_2) Can you guys think of any other emotions besides the ones listed on Teen Titans Wiki and Bloodlust? If they are made-up emotions like Bloodlust, please tell us what cloak color they have. _

_And one of Intelligence's knives can shoot out dark energy, but only if she says the incantation. The other one is just an ordinary sax knife. You can tell the difference. The one that can shoot dark energy is two inches longer and it has a red ribbon at the bottom of the hilt._

**Lefty: *comes back* YOU ASKED THEM THE QUESTIONS? AND YOU GAVE THE DESCRIPTION OF INTELLIGENCE'S SAX KNIVES? You evil OC!**

**May: …You learned that about me…NOW? Get with the times, Lefty!**

**Lefty: Forget you! *leaves angrily***

**May: -_-"…**

**Tayuya: Now that was a stupid move on your end.**

**May: Shut up…This will blow over by the end of the next chapter.**

**Tayuya: Yeah…sure…Believe that…**

**May: I bet that this will blow over by Friday the 13****th****. Especially if something good happens at the banquet.**

**Tayuya: How you wish that…Wonder if any of her friends want to go…**

**May: None of them said anything. Besides, they DO have to pay 20 bucks.**

**Tayuya: Right**

**May: *sighs and pinches bridge of nose* We'll just leave her alone for now…Oh and Merry Christmas, once again, readers! *bows***


	13. It's My Fault!

"**ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT GOT MONEY ON MY MIND I CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH AND EVERYTIME I STEP UP IN THE BUILDING EVERYBODY HANDS GO **

**UP! **

**AND THEY STAY THERE (YEAH!) AND THEY SAY YEAH! (YEAH!) AND THEY STAY THERE! UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN!**

**CAUSE ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN AND IF YOU GOIN' IN PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND MAKE THEM STAY THERE!" ^^ That song is seriously stuck in my mind! Sorry readers! A bit happy right now! *resumes singing the chorus***

**May: …Despite the fact that she stayed there past the intended time and got in trouble…she had an excellent time at the banquet. And all these stories here on this website with the title "Fire and Ice" is only reminding us about the restaurant. As one senior said, "I so hunger!" *ahem* Anyways…I shall be taking over since all she's doing is singing that song over and over again.**

**Lefty: "…ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN AND IF YOU GOIN' IN PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND MAKE THEM STAY THERE!"**

**May: Oh and the name of that song is "All I Do is Win" by DJ Khaled. **

**Tensa Zangetsu 17: Well, it's a lot better than Chapter 11 for sure. Plus, her friend was the one that revised the fighting between Robin and Arella.**

**Fanamaniac: That's messed up. What story was that? So she can rage on whoever that "nutter" was on his/her stories…If someone flames her or her friends, she'll flame to that person. An eye for an eye…See what happens when it's purely Teen Titans? She pushes herself more. We shall not be putting Grimmjow's battle in here. Well only a little bit, but not the whole thing. She did the twist on purpose because she wanted the story to continue. All I'm going to say is that she intends to put Raven in the Winter War so that's why she doesn't want Raven to break out of Aizen's hold **_**just**_** yet. The fight scenes were good because her friend wrote it. She would type it and then send that excerpt to Kitsura and then she'd edit it. **

**Georgster101: Heh, you're the only one that answered our questions. Thanks, and her friend Kitsura E. said that she should add JLU since "If it was something that big, you'd think they'd be involved in it", were her words. Greed…I can't believe we never thought of it. But the cloak will have to be a different color since Intelligence is already yellow. …! Thank you, Georgster. We've thought of something, thanks to you. Bravery isn't going down JUST yet…**

**May: Oh and some…emoticlones will have different fonts. You'll see what I mean.**

* * *

><p><span>An Excerpt from Chapter 12<span>

_Raven suddenly smiles at him, but Robin immediately senses that there is something wrong. "Wh-" A sharp pain sudden erupts in his chest and he gasps as he glances down and sees a long, jagged dagger deeply imbedded in the center of his chest. "R-raven..." She shoves him back against the rubble._

_"I don't need help from someone like you. Only Aizen-sama can help me." Walking forward, she mercilessly yanks out her dagger and blood immediately begins to gush out of the wound, darkening his red shirt. "Eh, sucks for you, but this is my favorite dagger so I would rather not leave it behind though it would have made a nice message for the others."_

_Robin can barely hear her voice over the ringing in his ears and he struggles to gasp in air, but only manages to choke himself further with blood. "R-raven..." She glances at him before turning around and striding away._

_"One bastard down, three more to go." A feral grin spreads across her face and her eyes flash in bloodlust as she turns into a raven and flies out of the pillar, back to her room. Robin weakly raises his arm towards where she disappeared, but shakily drops it. As his raspy breathing slows and his vision blurs, he thinks he can hear a voice calling his name. "_How nice. Dying while thinking you're going to be saved."_ The darkness takes over completely._

* * *

><p><strong>On with the story<strong>

"Ulquiorra…" Grimmjow mutters, staring at the fourth Espada.

"Grimmjow. What are you doing?" Grimmjow stares at him, not answering. "What's wrong? What are you trying to pull – healing the wounds of an enemy I defeated?" Grimmjow is still silent. "No response?" He turns to Orihime and notices her focusing on something else. "Very well then. In any case, Aizen-sama entrusted that girl to me. Hand her over."

"Hell no," Grimmjow retorts.

"What did you say?"

"What's the matter? You've got a lot to say today, don't you, Ulquiorra?" He disappears and reappears in front of Ulquiorra using Sonído, trying to attack him. Ulquiorra easily blocks him and Grimmjow continues, "I can see it in you, Ulquiorra…You're scared of fighting me…scared of ripping us both to shreds!" His Cero blasts at Ulquiorra, but he easily deflects it. "Hah! So you diverted it! As expected, one attack isn't going-" Ulquiorra reappears above Grimmjow, charging up his own Cero. But Grimmjow takes a risk and brings his own hand up, negating Ulquiorra's Cero with his own. The attack destroys the top part of the pillar and Ulquiorra leaps out of the pillar. Grimmjow's hand shoots out of the smoke, and puts his hand in front of Ulquiorra's Hollow hole. A cube-shaped object falls into his hole and begins wrapping around him.

The last thing he says before his mouth is sealed is, "Damn…"

Grimmjow lands in front of Orihime, calmly. "Wh-what happened to him?"

"Aizen gave each Espada a special ability called Caja Negación. We use it to punish subordinates. That's what I just used. When deployed on an average Arrancar, it permanently traps them in a sealed dimension. But they weren't made to be used against Espada. Considering his reiatsu, we've probably got two to three hours max before he breaks free. Got it? Now hurry up and heal him!" Grimmjow demands.

Orihime looks down and bravely states, "I don't want to."

Grimmjow immediately grabs her neck, threatening, "I'm not asking you; I'm telling you! Heal him!"

Orihime grabs his hand and states, "No! If I heal him, you'll just hurt him even more! I won't do it!"

"You-" Ichigo grabs Grimmjow's arm, stopping him.

"Let her go." He pushes Grimmjow's arm down and he steps away from Ichigo and Orihime. "Orihime…please heal me. Fix my injuries…his too," Ichigo asks her, indicating to Grimmjow's severely burnt arm. "And…don't forget about Robin's injuries."

"Bad idea. I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity. You want us to fight on equal footing, right? Or do you want to save that burn for an excuse when you _lose_?" He enunciates the last word and Grimmjow pulls out his Zanpakutō, but Ichigo blocks the attack.

"Alright then! Then let's have a good clean murder!"

_3 minutes later…_

As Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka finish their job, Grimmjow's hand is healed and Ichigo is crouching in front of Nel reassuring her. "Don't make that face, Nel! Orihime…don't worry, alright? I'll **definitely** win!" He reassures her. Orihime looks at him for a moment before turning back to Robin. "Let's take this elsewhere, Grimmjow."

"Sure." As the two descend to the desert, Orihime turns around and starts healing Robin. As the wound begins closing, his closed eyes begin blinking slowly.

The wound closes and Robin starts coughing, sitting up in the healing bubble. "Robin! Are you ok?" Orihime asks, taking a step towards the bubble. Robin looks around, taking in his surroundings.

He spots Orihime. "You're…that Orihime girl…right?" He asks her, as Nel stands right in front of him.

"Ichigo went to go fight Grimmjow-sama! You should go help him!" Nel prompts.

"No, I have to let him fight on his own. Meanwhile…" Robin stands up. "I have to go rescue someone. So, please, let me out of here."

Orihime looks over his wound and nods. "Be careful!" she yells after him as he runs away from the pillar, materializing his mask over his face.

He grits his teeth. _"I don't care what she did to me! I'm going to bring her back if it's the last thing I do!"_ he vows, using Shunpo to re-enter the building he had been in with Ichigo. He tries to find Raven throughout Las Noches, but he can't sense her reiatsu anywhere. _"Damn! Can't find her!"_ He punches a nearby pillar in frustration, but he remembers something. _"Wait! Our bond! …But is it going to work? I can't sense her at all…"_

Then, Robin hears a voice from somewhere. _"…have to find Robin…But…how do I take control of Raven with Bloodlust and Rage watching my every move…"_

"Who was that…?" Robin shakes off the voice and continues through the corridor that they had gone through. He enters a split path. "Which way…?" he mutters. He gambles and turns left, panic beginning to rise. _"What if I run into one of the Espada…?"_ He stops, hearing footsteps coming from behind him. He continues walking, cautiously, waiting for the person behind him to make a move. The pace begins picking up so he takes the initiative and pulls out his bo staff. He turns around swiftly and swings his bo staff at the figure.

"Robin!" The figure yells. He stops as Starfire comes into view.

"Star? Weren't you with Uryū?"

"He told me to get out of the room before the Espada came back. Beast Boy and I split up when we encountered the diverging path. We decided that if we found something, we would contact each other."

"The Titans communicator! Of course! I should have used it locate Raven!"

"Robin…" Starfire mutters as Robin pulled out his communicator.

"What is it?"

"Uryū noted a drop of your…reiatsu. He told me that I should go to help you, but to expect the worst. Tell me, what happened?"

Robin pauses, debating whether or not to tell Starfire. He takes a deep breath, but then the communicator begins beeping. He flips it open to see Beast Boy. "Yo, Robin! I just saw someone walk by wearing a blue cloak! She was talking to some blonde-haired girl with a watermelon chest! Do you think it's Raven?"

"Star and I are in the left corridor. Come over here so I can tell you what I've got," Robin commands after a second of deliberation.

"Alright, I'll be there faster than you can say-" Beast Boy is cut off and Robin can see someone ruthlessly choking him from behind. He turns around as the communicator drops, showing the person behind him. "R…Raven?"'

"Who you talking to, you little green booger? You worthless piece of shit. Did you hear about your beloved leader's death?"

"What…are you talking about? He's still alive!" Beast Boy insists.

"Hah! Looks like you haven't heard yet! That little bird's gone! Dead! Haha! And ya know who crushed that bird? I DID! THAT GODDAMN TRAITOR IS DEAD! AND YOU'RE NEXT!" Before Robin and Beast Boy can say anything, Raven shoves Beast Boy against the wall with so much force that the wall where Robin and Starfire are begins to crack. Beast Boy's communicator is dropped and Raven picks it up as he twitches in the crater that was made. "And who you talkin' to? Your girlfriend, **Terra**?" She looks into the screen and, underneath the mask, her eyes widen. "How the hell are you still alive?" she asks darkly as she continues staring at Robin.

"Orihime healed me."

Raven grits her teeth and turns to someone behind her. "The girl betrayed Aizen-sama. What do you suggest we do?" Before Halibel can answer, Raven drops the communicator as a green blur smashes into her side. Beast Boy grabs the communicator, puts it back into his pocket, and transforms into a cheetah.

Back at Robin and Starfire, the two of them had turned around and headed towards Beast Boy's corridor. But they stop as he appears in front of them. He transforms back to normal, panting heavily. "Was that…really Raven?" Starfire pats his shoulder as he leans against her for support.

Robin narrows his eyes and says, "Aizen's done something to her. She thinks we left her for dead and she wants revenge."

"But…that can't be Raven…She would never use Terra as a weak point. She'd…never use Terra's name just to spite me…" Beast Boy mutters as he begins regaining his breath.

"She's changed, Beast Boy. I told you, Aizen's done something to her. We have to move. We shouldn't fight her again. Who knows what will happen?"

"Well, to answer that rhetorical question of yours, I do," someone says. Starfire and Beast Boy turn around, but no one shows up. Robin looks over his shoulder, but doesn't find anyone either. "Where you looking, boy blunder?" The wall adjacent to him begins cracking and before he can do anything, Raven breaks through the wall grabbing him on the neck. As his eyes try to refocus, he can see the two pairs of glowing eyes glaring at him under the mask. "This time, I'm going to make sure you're dead. I'm not going to let anyone save your ass anymore. Once you're gone, your beloved teammates are next." Her grip on his neck tightens and he begins coughing up blood.

Starfire, recovering from the shock, grabs Raven on the shoulder and forcefully pulls her back. "Friend Raven! Why are you doing this?" Starfire questions her friend as she helps Robin. Raven, pulling out her dark sword, takes a defensive stance.

"I'm not your friend. Never was. You bastards only used me!" Starfire stares at her friend in shock. She then turns to Robin and he only closes his eyes, looking away.

"Raven…what are you talking about?" Beast Boy asks in shock. The three of them stare at Raven as her mask changes again, covering the upper left part of her face. As the tension begins building, Raven disappears in a blur. The three prepare for her attack when she suddenly appears in front of Beast Boy. "Whoa!" Before he can say anything else, the sword impales him in the abdomen. She mercilessly yanks it out and disappears again. Starfire kneels down, trying to control the bleeding on her friend's wound. Robin puts on his mask and looks around. He focuses on Raven's reiatsu and changes his bo staff into a sword. He turns around and blocks her attack just before it can decapitate him.

Raven's sword evaporates in a black mist and as she falls down on him, she swings her leg towards his neck. He brings up his arm to block it and his hand begins tingling from the impact. As his arm turns numb, Raven lands and headstands for a few seconds. She pushes herself up and kicks Robin in the chin. She rolls away and springs back up just as Starfire lunges at her with her starbolt sword. Raven dodges it with ease and as Starfire flies past, she grabs Starfire's foot and throws her against the wall. As Starfire groans in pain, Raven turns towards Beast Boy. She kneels down, examining his wound. "He got healed…" she mutters, guessing that Starfire did it. "_It would be troublesome if I let that one live. So…first things first…I kill Starfire._" She stands up and flinches as immense pain flashes through her stomach. She looks down and sees a glowing green form of a sword.

"I am…very sorry…friend Raven…but I _cannot_ let you kill friend Beast Boy," Starfire declares as Raven turns around with shock evident in her eyes. Starfire has her Hollow mask on and is clutching the starbolt sword. Raven sees Robin out of the corner of her eye and sees him helping Beast Boy to the side.

Raven, ignoring the pain as much as possible, pulls herself away from the sword. She clutches the wound, panting, and stares hatefully at Starfire. "Ha! I thought you didn't have the guts to hurt me!" Raven laughs, as a glowing light begins to emit from her hand. A faint humming can be heard as her wound begins healing. "From what I remember, you were the weak one that refused to hurt her friends." Starfire flinches and stares at Raven.

"Friend Raven…why are you doing this? What would be your reason for doing such a thing to your teammates and friends?"

Raven lets out a mirthless laugh. "You were never my friends. Like I told your beloved boyfriend…" Her sword reappears in her hand as she grins again. "…I'm going to kill **all** of you."

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

Bravery hides in the cliff again, trying to think up a strategy. "No…if I go up against them, that'd be suicidal. There's gotta be **something** I can do…" She sits there, thinking for a while longer. "What were the first emotions that were created…" Her eyes widen as she thinks of 7 other emotions. "The…seven deadly sins…That's it! I'll go to them! But…Sloth and Lust are already under control. All I have are Gluttony, Pride, Greed, Wrath, and Envy…Wrath might be the hardest…But I'll have to try. I doubt even Rage knows about them. I'll just have to risk it." She stands up and looks out of the cliff face, waiting patiently. She mutters, "Coast is clear…time to go to their dens…"

"_Whose dens you gonna go to_?" A voice begins. Bravery flinches, but somewhat relaxes as she recognizes the voice. She may have heard it a long time ago, but she's grateful for any allies.

"So…it's only the 5 deadly sins now, isn't it…Pride? Must really damage your _pride_ doesn't it?" she mocks Pride as the black-cloaked sin appears in front of her.

"_I don't need to hear that from you, Bravery. Now then, why do you need our help? You know as well as I do that we 'sins' don't help the emotions. We let them deal with themselves. Besides, I'm literally risking Wrath so hurry up. Tell me what the problem is._"

"I'm pretty sure Greed knows what the problem is. She's the one that lurk around without getting caught, am I right?"

Pride pulls off her cloak, revealing jet-black hair and eyes. "_Not much can get past you, huh? No wonder Raven considers you her best emotion. Wrath already knows the situation and she doesn't want to get involved. Unless you can update the situation for us. All we know is that some guy named Aizen used something to change Raven. Rage and a newly created emotion named Bloodlust are rounding up all the emotions and have managed to get Sloth and Lust. Greed saw your battle against Bloodlust. Gotta say, pretty boneheaded. After all…Intelligence, Innocence, and Happiness have been taken because of your decision, am I right?"_ she ends with a smirk.

Bravery scoffs and chuckles softly. "That's pretty much it. But I guess, considering the situation, Greed didn't get to hear what Rage and Bloodlust plan to do…nor know what Raven is doing as we speak."

Pride's eyes widen as she takes a few steps towards Bravery. "_What…are you talking about? What's Raven doing right now?"_

Bravery folds her arms and huffs, "She's going after her friends and plans to kill them. Aizen tricked her into it and now…we're in this big, fat mess." (May: No, it's because the author has such a creative imagination…)

"_We have to do something! I'll take you to Wrath right now_!"

"Do you honestly think she'd listen? She's Wrath of all people! She doesn't get scared that easily! She won't listen to us. Sure the other sins might listen to us, but without Wrath's okay, we're nothing! You guys won't be able to use your full strength against Rage and Bloodlust. They are THAT powerful!"

"_Are you doubting the 7 Deadly Sins, my dear Bravery? So what if Sloth and Lust are captured? There are still FIVE of us left. We'll be fine."_

"And the only reason why you're thinking that is because you're Pride! Your pride and ego is inflated! We don't have time for it. Just admit it! If they weren't as powerful as I stated, then why the hell haven't you stopped them already?"

Pride looks away, pulling her hood up. _"…Wrath never gave us the okay."_

"So what?" Bravery stops and takes slow and calming breaths. "It doesn't matter. You said yourself that they aren't that strong. Now…if we go find Greed, we'll stand a chance. Right?"

Pride nods, slowly. _"Fine. Let's go. But you're telling the other sins the situation. And if it doesn't work out…_" She grins without humor. _"Pride won't be a sin anymore."_

* * *

><p>-Raven vs. Starfire-<p>

Starfire narrowly avoids decapitation as Raven shoots past her with the sword. Her vision is starting to get blurry. Probably from the multiple wounds on her arms and legs. She covers the gash in her stomach, hoping it won't cause any hindrance later. Robin rushes to her side, waiting for Raven to make a move. "Tch, 2-vs.-1 isn't a good number for me. Especially when we're going to get to our goal soon…Just a bit longer…Just have to wait a bit longer…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, boy blunder? But I'm not going to tell you. Besides, we've caused enough destruction as it is. No more. I'm going."

"What? You attack us, left me for dead, almost killed both Beast Boy and Starfire, and now you're _leaving_?" Robin seethes, taking a step towards her. Raven turns around, pulling her hood up.

"You should be glad I'm sparing you. I may be at a disadvantage…but with all this noise, the Exequias will probably come. I would kill you, but that woman, Orihime, will only come and rescue you. I want to see your corpses, lying at my feet. I don't want _any_ of you left alive…" Her voice drops. "**After what happened, you should be thankful you're still breathing. I could slit your throat if I wanted to…**" She turns back to face them and the pair flinches. Raven's eyes are glowing in scarlet red and grinning bloodthirstily. The three have a stare-down for a while longer until a black mist begins enveloping Raven. Within seconds, she's gone.

Starfire and Robin exchange looks and then rushes towards Beast Boy. "How'd you learn how to heal?" Robin questions her as she places her hands on Beast Boy's abdomen.

"Do you not remember?" Starfire begins as a glowing green light emits from her hands. "Shinji-kun had taught me how to heal. It turns out that I have such an ability."

"But you should heal yourself first. I'm pretty sure Beast Boy's ok."

"No, I will heal friend Beast Boy first before myself."

"Star…"

"Robin…please…tell me. What did that Aizen do to our friend? Why does she want to kill us?"

"She thinks we left her to die out here in Hueco Mundo. She told me that Aizen had saved her and gave her the new powers that she's been seeking so she could get revenge. In return for that power, she would help him. We still don't know what she's helping him do exactly, but it must be pretty big if he had to resort to kidnapping Raven and Orihime," Robin deduces. Starfire nods understandingly and Robin can't help but smirk. _"She must've learned how to cope with all of this…Considering how she's the first to become a Vizard…I guess she's matured a lot."_

"It is my fault…is it not?"

"What are you talking about?"

"If I had attacked Aizen when he approached me that night, we would not be in this situation. It is my fault…" she mutters guiltily, the light from her hands beginning to wane.

"Starfire…it's not your fault. None of us would have expected this. It's my fault for allowing Shinji to tell us what to do. If I had ignored him, I would have been able to keep an eye on Raven so she wouldn't be kidnapped."

"But! If I had fought back, if I had known about him…our friends Beast Boy and Cyborg wouldn't be in this situation. Uryū told me that his and Chad-kun's reiatsu is very low right now. And Beast Boy is still recuperating from a pain inflicted by our friend!" She pulls away from Beast Boy's wound and begins sobbing into her hands. All Robin can do is place a comforting hand on her shoulder as she cries in frustration.

"It's ok, Star…We _will_ get Raven back and we _will_ get back at Aizen for doing this to us…I promise…" Robin swears.

-Elsewhere in Las Noches-

Raven walks through the halls and stops in front of Aizen's throne room. The door creaks open and Raven walks in. "Welcome Raven…I trust that you have some information about your…ex-teammates?"

"Yes, Aizen-sama. I have wounded Beast Boy, but Starfire can heal, therefore, it would be best if we got rid of her first, sir. I believe Nnoitra got to Cyborg, but Robin is still alive." She clenches her fists at this point and continues, "Are you really going to have someone take them with us to…?"

"Yes…we will. There, you will be able to go all out. Now, I believe I have a Zanpakuto name I have to tell you…correct?"

Raven smirks at that. "Yes…my lord…" She mutters, clutching the black sword that she's had since she woke up. "Soon…I will get my revenge…"

* * *

><p><strong>Lefty: "ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT GOT MONEY ON MY MIND I CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH AND EVERYTIME I STEP UP IN THE BUILDING EVERYBODY HANDS GO <strong>

**UP! **

**AND THEY STAY THERE (YEAH!) AND THEY SAY YEAH! (YEAH!) AND THEY STAY THERE! UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN!**

**CAUSE ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN AND IF YOU GOIN' IN PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND MAKE THEM STAY THERE!"**

**May: *facepalms and then headesks* Please, for the love of God, STOP SINGING THE CHORUS!**

**Lefty: No! I like it a lot!**

**May: …Readers…what you are about to see…please do not tell Kitsura or anyone else. *pulls out a club* *approaches Lefty from behind* *BAM!***

**Lefty: *out cold***

**May: …Hey, I told her to shut up. It's not my fault…I cannot believe it's been one week since the banquet and she is STILL listening to that song…*mutters "all I do is win win win no matter what"* …HOLY CRAP! SHE'S GOT ME SINGING IT TOO! THAT'S IT, WHEN SHE WAKES UP, I'M GOING TO KILL HER! *laughs maliciously***

**Tayuya: *sitting on the couch* *sweatdrops* …Kitsura…are you here somewhere…? We need your help calming down May again…Oh yeah, thank you, Georgster101 for giving us the idea of the 7 Deadly Sins. As you can see…May's deadly sin is Wrath. Lefty's is probably…huh…what IS her deadly sin? Well! Who out there wants to guess her deadly sin? Mine is most likely Pride. Yeah, that's right. I admit it! **

**Ace Yuki **(from Death and the Beautiful Snow)**: So, who do you think Lefty's deadly sin is? Is it Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust, Greed, or Sloth? You can probably tell based on her personality. *shrugs* 'Till next time, readers. **


	14. Aizen's Real Plan: FINAL CHAPTER

**Lefty: *banging head against the wall***

**May: …What now?**

**Lefty: My eyes hurt, my ears hurt…and it's all because of the WASC video D:**

**May: …*sigh* Due to stress with other things, we do not have the time to answer reviews. And we have decided to update this chapter and then go on a temporary hiatus. And we will be restarting it in another section, so this will be the last chapter of Shinigami Titans Part 1. The next one will be corresponding with the Fake Karakura Town Arc. **

**IMPORTANT NOTE AT BOTTOM! IF YOU DON'T HELP OUT, WE WON'T GET TO UPDATE!**

* * *

><p><em><span>Excerpt from Chapter 13<span>_

_-Elsewhere in Las Noches-_

_Raven walks through the halls and stops in front of Aizen's throne room. The door creaks open and Raven walks in. "Welcome Raven…I trust that you have some information about your…ex-teammates?"_

_"Yes, Aizen-sama. I have wounded Beast Boy, but Starfire can heal, therefore, it would be best if we got rid of her first, sir. I believe Nnoitra got to Cyborg, but Robin is still alive." She clenches her fists at this point and continues, "Are you really going to have someone take them with us to…?"_

_"Yes…we will. There, you will be able to go all out. Now, I believe I have a Zanpakutō name I have to tell you…correct?"_

_Raven smirks at that. "Yes…my lord…" She mutters, clutching the black sword that she's had since she woke up. "Soon…I will get my revenge…"_

**On with the story**

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

The emotion and the deadly sin continue walking through Nevermore in silence. Occasionally, they conceal themselves in rocks, trees, and any walls that are near. By the fifth time they had to hide, Bravery's patience is beginning to run thin. "Are we there yet, Pride? I don't remember the Deadly Sins being this far away," Bravery complains.

"_Oh please, Bravery. Have some patience."_

"You know I'm not Patience. Patience is probably being controlled by Rage and Bloodlust right now. So will you _please_ just tell me how much longer it's going to take?"

"_Hmph, if you keep asking me, you'll never get there. Do you remember what you're supposed to do in order to get to our homes?"_

Something clicks in Bravery's mind. An old memory of being pushed into a "cleansing fountain" to rid you of the Deadly Sin you wanted to visit. "Where's that fountain?"

"_So you do remember. But the question is…who do you want to visit?"_ Bravery ignores her and forges onwards to the fountain. Unbeknownst to either of them, a figure with a reddish hue to her cloak is hiding on a nearby tree grinning to herself.

"**Hehehehe…let's see if they can make it to me before it's too late…**"

* * *

><p>-Starfire, Beast Boy, and Robin-<p>

Green eyes blink open as Beast Boy pushes himself up, rubbing his head. "What happened…?" As his eyes focus, he spots Robin. "Robin? What happened to Raven? Where'd she go?"

"She left…she said that we should be glad she spared us. If it weren't for the fact that Orihime would heal us, we'd be dead right now…"

"I still don't believe it. How can that be Raven? I thought she wouldn't fall for something like this."

"Maybe…she was threatened by Aizen. He must have said that we would get hurt if she didn't join him. And during the whole process, Aizen must have used something on her to make her the way she is!" Robin deduces. "I can't believe I didn't realize that! It makes sense now!"

"Wait…Robin." Robin turns to Beast Boy. "Where's Starfire?" Robin's excitement disappears as his face tightens into a grimace. He nods over to the gaping hole that Raven caused when she threw Starfire against the wall. Beast Boy spots the red-haired teen alien sitting on the new ledge, looking out to the makeshift sky of Las Noches. "Star? Are you ok?"

The young alien turns around and Beast Boy stops in surprise. There is no more emotion in their friend's usual exuberant face. Her eyes are a dull green and her mouth is merely a straight line. "I am fine, friend Beast Boy," she replies formally. "I would like to know when we shall be continuing our search for Aizen. Are you well enough to allow us to continue on?" Beast Boy couldn't help but stand there, stunned at the emotionless words tumbling out of Starfire's mouth.

Robin, noticing his silence, walks over to Starfire. "We're ready when you are," he replies, placing a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. Starfire nods and shoulders past the two, taking the lead. The two follow her and after about 10 minutes of silence, Beast Boy begins speaking again.

"So…uh…what happened while I was out?"

"She left, saying that there's only a bit of time left. I don't know what she meant by that, but she stated how we were lucky to still be breathing. After that, Starfire healed you," Robin summarizes, not mentioning about Starfire blaming herself. Starfire abruptly stops and both males stop short. "What's wro-?" Before Robin can finish, Starfire grabs them by the arm and yanks them to the side just as someone walks by. They conceal themselves in the shadows as a dark-skinned Arrancar walks by. He stops a few feet ahead of their spot, looks around, and continues on. Once they are sure the Arrancar is well out of their area, the three come out. "Thanks, Star," Robin begins, but Starfire continues on. Beast Boy stares at Robin questioningly, but all he can do is shrug. He had promised Starfire that he wouldn't tell Beast Boy about what happened.

After 5 minutes of pure silence, they enter a diverging path again. "Robin and I shall go left. Beast Boy, you can go right."

"Uh…remember what happened last time? I don't want that to happen again, so can we just stick together? Who knows? Raven might show up again."

Starfire stands there for a while, frowning. "I shall go alone then." With that, she walks swiftly to the right leaving Beast Boy and Robin behind. The two stare at each other, and Robin goes around Beast Boy to the left path.

Beast Boy stumbles after Robin, waiting for a right moment to ask the question on his mind. "So…uh, what happened while I was out?"

"I already told you what happened, Beast Boy."

"I know you're hiding something. All I want to know is…does Star feel guilty about this?" Beast Boy asks, worry etched on his usual perky face. Robin couldn't help but flinch at the sudden worry and the quick flicker of remorse in his teammate's eyes.

"How'd you know about that?"

"While you were training with the Vizards. Star and I were talking and she mentioned about it. I guess…Star's taking this a lot to heart. She told me, 'If I had known whom Aizen really was…I would have been able to fight back.' She continued saying how it was her fault for not fighting him off and stuff." Before Beast Boy can continue on, Robin's communicator begins beeping.

He flips it open to find…Cyborg. Alive and well.

* * *

><p>-Nevermore-<p>

"Damnit, Pride! How the hell did we get into this mess?" Bravery complains, drenched to the bone after being pushed through the "cleansing" fountain.

"_Wrath must have set something up to prevent anyone from entering. Being me, I would have been able to pass through with no problem. But you're an emotion! Wrath doesn't want any emotion coming in here unless necessary."_

"Where the hell is Wrath?" Bravery yells once more as the crows begin flocking around them even more.

"**Right here.**" The crows dissipate into a reddish cloud of smoke that begins to take form of a red-hued cloak. The figure opens her scarlet red eyes, smirking. "**What seems to be the problem, Pride?**"

"Don't be coy, Wrath. You know _exactly_ what's going on!" Bravery interjects, not even flinching when Wrath switches her gaze to the green-cloaked emotion.

"**Really, Bravery? Where's your proof? And even if I did know, why would I help you? There's no point! I told Raven that the Deadly Sins will be locking themselves up to avoid any possible problems that may arise. And you want us to leave our homes to help you?**"

"Do you _want_ Raven to work for this guy? I sure as hell don't! I don't get why you want Aizen to take control of her so badly! Is it possible you're working for him?" She flinches when Wrath slaps her.

"**Don't you dare assume such a thing. We promised Raven that the Deadly Sins will not interfere unless she herself says so.**"

"Do you honestly think she can? Rage is in control right now! Along with that goddamn new emotion, Bloodlust!" Bravery stomps her foot.

"_Bravery…_" Pride meekly puts in, but Bravery ignores Pride.

"I'm sick of you Deadly Sins not doing a single thing to save her! For once in your life, will you just break free of your regulations? A life is at stake here! And it might not _just_ be her! We could all die and her friends are doing everything they can to save her while we're having this conversation! So, Wrath…WILL YOU JUST HELP?" Bravery stops to take a breather as Wrath stares at her in shock and something like…admiration?

Wrath shakes her head, beginning to chuckle. "**Haha, no emotion…even the Deadly Sins…**_**none**_** of them have ever stood up to me without stopping halfway. You're the only one that's foolhardy enough to continue insisting on assistance and not even think about the consequences.**"

"Um...thanks?" Bravery asks, confusion written all over her face.

"**Alright, I'll help ya. But I'm worried that we could be too late…**"

"What? Are you saying that we can't stop Rage and Bloodlust?"

"**No…it's just that…Raven's just released her Zanpakutō. The moment she did…was the moment that Bloodlust and Rage have complete control. It might be difficult to fight back since we're missing Lust and Sloth. But the remaining Deadly Sins will do their best.**"

"Who's left…You, Pride, Greed, Envy, and Gluttony. That's it. With just the 6 of us, do you really think we've got this under control?"

"**Well, we'll see…won't we, Bravery?**" Wrath smiles.

"_I hate it when the Deadly Sins smile…We either don't have a fighting chance or we're just in really…really __**deep**__ shit…" _Bravery groans inwardly.

* * *

><p>-Las Noches-<p>

"Cyborg? I thought you were-"

"Dead? Yeah, I thought so too. But the Privaron and I managed to survive long enough for someone to heal else. People from Soul Society have arrived to help us."

From behind him, a woman speaks up. "Please allow me to speak to your leader, Mr. Stone." Cyborg moves his arm to a woman with blue eyes and long, braided black hair that is smiling warmly at Robin. "Hello, you must be Robin, the leader of the Titans. Mr. Stone here told me that you are here along with Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends to rescue your friends, correct?"

Beast Boy whispers into Robin's ear, "Should we trust her?"

Cyborg hears Beast Boy and assures him, "Don't worry, man. She's cool. She saved me, didn't she? We can trust her. She's part of the Soul Society, after all."

"But how do we know she's not a fake?"

"I assure you…I am not working for Sōsuke Aizen," she assures him, smiling at him with some sort of malicious aura behind her. Robin breaks into a brief cold sweat before nodding.

"Thank you for healing my friend, Ms.…"

"Unohana. Captain Retsu Unohana of the 4th Squad."

"Thank you." Cyborg moves his arm back to himself and Robin asks, "What have you picked up so far?"

"The Privaron I fought against told us everything he knew, from the time he was an Espada to now. He told me something pretty surprising…"

"You mean, about Raven?"

"You know about it?" Robin nods, trying to hide his anger. "The Privaron said that 'Aizen's got a new weapon and he's planning on using it soon enough.'"

"Does he know what the actual weapon is? If we know what it is, then we can look for it."

"Er…well…" Cyborg stutters, making Robin suspicious. "The Privaron said that it's some person called Carasu or something like that. I have no idea what it means, but Star might. Is she there with you?"

"No, she-" His communicator beeps again, so he connects the person to their current conversation. "Star! What's going on?" Robin yells, but soon regrets it when Starfire glares at him suddenly. "Star?"

"Please, be quiet. I am currently following an Arrancar. I do not want to be discovered. This person seems to know what is happening to Raven. I shall follow her for a little bit," she whispers, before closing the communicator.

Cyborg stares at Robin in confusion. "Uh…what just happened? Star seemed a bit…distant just now."

Robin stops, debating on whether or not to tell Cyborg about Starfire. "I'm not sure. But she suggested that we split up to go look for Raven or any possible clues. I guess the Arrancar she saw must be an Espada or something, in order to convince her to follow them."

"Oh…Isane…"

"Yes, ma'am!" Robin hears a faint _whoosh_ noise behind Cyborg and he looks at his teammate for answers.

"I sensed that one of the Shinigami that came with us was injured. I merely sent Isane to go and assist him. Now then, where are your comrades? I will go and help them heal."

"What, really?" Cyborg asks. Unohana nods and he looks back at Robin. "I'll find you guys through the coordinates from your communicators. Just stay there! We'll be there in a few! This way, Ms. Unohana." Cyborg closes the communicator, leaving Robin and Beast Boy in momentary silence.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to wait," Beast Boy decides, sitting down.

"We should train."

"What? Why?"

"I could barely put a scratch on the Privaron I encountered. How'd you do with yours?"

"We didn't run into any Privaron, but Renji and I ran into an Espada. I think he said he was the 8th one…" His ears droop. "None of us could do anything against him. Uryū and Renji told Star and me to run for it so we wouldn't have to fight him. We…we just seriously screwed up."

"That's why we need more training. We need to be ready for anything and everything. We should have anticipated what Aizen would do to Raven. This must have been a trap from the get-go. From Starfire's Hollowfication…to this. He must have wanted to use Raven this whole time…and leading us here…might also be a trap!"

Just as Robin realizes that, both boys sense something clicking in their minds. In the next moment, a voice can be heard. "**Can you hear me…intruders?**"

"No way. Is that…Aizen? Where is he?" Beast Boy asks, beginning to freak out.

* * *

><p>-Starfire-<p>

"Is this one of the Kido I was told about? Tenteikūra?" Starfire mutters, trying not to lose the blond-haired Espada.

"So you're the red-haired chick named Starfire, huh?" She turns around, instantly meeting a fist in her face. The figure picks her up and follows the blond-haired Arrancar to their destination.

* * *

><p>-Robin and Beast Boy-<p>

"Quiet, Beast Boy. We need to listen to this!"

"First, allow me to compliment you for defeating so many Espadas. And now…**we will begin our invasion of the world of the living**."

"What? But I thought Ichigo told us they needed Orihime to awaken the Hōgyoku!" Robin exclaims, standing up.

"I'll leave Orihime Inoue in the 5th tower. If you want to save her, come and get her. She is no longer of any use to me…Her abilities are astonishing. Her rejections of phenomena transcends the powers allowed to human beings. The high officials of the Soul Society recognized the significance of her ability early on. That is why I took her. Her abduction provoked a crisis in the Soul Society, prompting them to withdraw to defend the Soul Society and abandon the world of the living…"

"If that's his plan with Orihime…then what about Raven?" Robin asks no one in particular, irritation beginning to show on his face.

"I used her as bait to lure the so-called deputy Shinigami and his friends to Hueco Mundo. Now they and the four captains who entered Hueco Mundo to help them have been **successfully confined…thanks to her…**"

"No way! That means all of those captains are stuck here? WE'RE DOOMED!" Beast Boy freaks out, but Robin grabs him by his shirt. He immediately quiets himself, waiting for Aizen to continue.

"The great thing about the Gotei 13 is that all 13 captains possess the powers of a major fighting force. But now, three have seceded and four more are trapped in Hueco Mundo. It's safe to say that the Soul Society's strength has been reduced by half. It was simple, really. Now we will destroy Karakura Town, create the Ōken, and bring down the Soul Society. Once that has been accomplished, we can deal with the rest of you at our leisure."

Beast Boy jumps when their communicators begin blinking. He flips it open to find Captain Unohana standing next to Cyborg. "Ms. Unohana! Do you know where that Aizen is? We'll head on out from there! We can't let him destroy that town!"

"Do not worry, Robin."

"How can we not worry, lady? A town's gonna be destroyed by Aizen and his little army of masked people! We're doomed!" Beast Boy yells again.

Robin grabs Beast Boy by his shirt again, and waits for Captain Unohana to continue. "A man named Kisuke Urahara received several orders from Captain Yamamoto. The first order was to send a few captains to Hueco Mundo…which are Captains Kuchiki, Zaraki, Kurotsuchi, and myself. And the second order was…"

-Karakura Town (?)-

A series of people begin hopping around on telephone poles. Suddenly, they all gather at one spot in the sky. "_…_to have all the captains of the Gotei 13 to prepare to fight in Karakura Town." The captains that were not in Hueco Mundo at the moment are waiting for Aizen to exit his Garganta. Captains Yamamoto, Soi Fon, Komamura, Kyōraku, Hitsugaya, and Ukitake along with their lieutenants.

"But if all those captains fight against Aizen and his army, won't they destroy everything in that town?" Cyborg asks.

"It's something called the Tenkai Kecchu. That means making Karakura Town suitable for battle. He built a device that created an enormous gateway which would envelop the entire city of Karakura Town. Meanwhile, those in the Department of Research and Development were asked to make an exact replica of Karakura Town on the outskirts of the Rukongai. The Tenkai Kecchu would then, in a way, switch the replica with the real town."

"But what about the people?" Chad asks from somewhere near Cyborg.

"We put them to sleep and sent them to the Rukongai along with the town itself. What stands in Karakura Town's place is an uninhabited replica. It doesn't matter if the captains reduce it to rubble."

* * *

><p>-Fake Karakura Town-<p>

"It looks like we made it in time," Captain Yamamoto comments as Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen enter with the Garganta still wide open.

"In time? Why do you say that? I know that isn't the real Karakura Town. But that won't stop us. **Starrk, Baraggan, Halibel…**come." Within seconds, 3 more Garganta open with the 3 Espadas standing at the center of their Fracción. They exit as Aizen continues, "If Karakura Town has been transported to the Rukongai, we will eliminate you and create the Ōken in the Soul Society. It's that simple... Until then, I leave Las Noches in your hands…**Ulquiorra**."

-Robin and Beast Boy-

"We have to hurry! Raven is still in Las Noches! I know it! Beast Boy, find Starfire and let her know!"

"**Oh, there's no need for that…**" A voice begins, sending chills down the boys' backs. Cyborg looks behind Robin and sees a dark figure.

"Behind you!" he yells. Robin instinctively pulls out his bo staff, which somehow transformed into a sword without him telling it. He manages to block the black sword before it can do anything to him or Beast Boy. Beast Boy yelps, putting on his Vizard mask by instinct. Robin grits his teeth and stares at the four red eyes. The same red eyes he had seen…before he almost lost his life about 2 hours ago.

Robin carefully tosses the communicator down on the ground, just as he hears Cyborg yell, "I'm on my way! Ms. Unohana, let me do this on my own!" The communicator turns pitch black as Robin pushes Raven away.

"Hehehe…he won't make it here." The boys' eyes widen at Raven's implication. Beast Boy morphs into a bug, disappearing from Raven's line of sight. Robin changes his bo staff into a broadsword, taking a defensive stance. Raven envelops Beast Boy's fly form with her aura, forcing him to revert back to normal as she states, "We don't have time for the usual fighting, bird boy. Aizen-sama wants me to take you two with me…" In a flash, Robin feels a tugging feeling on his arm and Beast Boy gets the same feeling on his leg.

Their eyes refocus and all they can see is blue. A sky blue. "As you can see, the Teen Titans are here to 'assist' you Gotei 13 in your fight. But it seems they are missing a teammate. Care to guess where the 5th Titan is?" Robin sits up, looking around. He sees the Gotei 13 staring at him and…the rest of the Titans!

"_What are we doing here? Aren't we in Las Noches right now?"_

"Where are we?" Starfire growls, her eyes glowing green as she glares at Aizen. He merely smirks, looking at the team.

"Karakura Town…of course…"

"Oh, no way!" Cyborg yells, standing up.

"Why do you want us here?" Robin questions, taking a battle stance in front of the Shinigami present.

"Merely to prove that even with assistance…that Soul Society _cannot_ win…"

"That's your plan? The only reason why you made all of us become Vizards and kidnap Raven was to prove something ridiculous to a group of people?" Beast Boy explodes, his face grimacing into a growl. Aizen merely smirks, waiting for them to finish.

"This ain't right, man…You've more or less ruined our lives, tangled us up with some other country's affair..."

"You've just made an enemy of the Titans…" Robin threatens. Aizen ignores the threat and continues standing there.

"Enough!" A voice begins. The Titans whip their heads around to see Yamamoto just as he stomps his staff down on the air. "We will all be fighting Aizen and his Arrancars. It will not be just you four."

Robin turns back to Aizen, but his eyes are darting around the sky looking for the blue-cloaked figure that brought them here. "Where's Raven?"

"Oh, do you mean Arella? She'll be here soon. I believe she is gathering her Fracción."

The four Titans' eyes widen in surprise. "She has…Fracción?" Beast Boy asks, sweat trickling down his face.

"Oh yes, of course she does…I believe she is ready. **Arella…come**." At that instant, another Garganta in front of the three Espada begins opening.

The Titans have been prepared for anything. But they were never prepared…for their own teammate to betray them…

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><strong>Lefty: *sitting in a corner with a dead face*<strong>

**May: It was JUST a softball game. It wasn't even an official SPORTS GAME! Stop moping and start working!**

**Lefty: …**

**May: …*facepalms* Ok, so since she's…MIA, so to speak, I will post this request. **

**We would like to have some of your OCs featured as Raven/Arella's Fracción. We will choose based on personality (whether or not we can portray them correctly), appearance, and whether they meet our Titan similarity standards. We still want them to be diverse, but somehow, in a way, to be similar to the Titans. You can set them up however you want. This will be the format:**

**Name (either Arrancar-like, Japanese, or a "code name"):**

**Gender:**

**Hair (add any details you may have):**

**Eyes (color too):**

**Skin color: **

**Shirts:**

**Pants:**

**Shoes:**

**Other (weapons, accessories, etc.):**

**Any interesting information about their past:**

**Location of Hollow hole:**

**We might have them wear the typical Arrancar uniform, but modified in a way. So it's either Arrancar uniform, with ****your**** modifications or the clothes you have them wear. And please have the person you would want them to fight. And if they are ALL Robin…I will facepalm and then ask each of you (but one) to select another Titan.**

**Thank you for reading this 14-chapter arc of Shinigami Titans. We will patch up the first few chapters and we hope to see you in **_Shinigami Titans: Karakura Town_.

**See you all next time!**


End file.
